Massive aquarium holding 1,500 exotic fish ruptures
Aquarium bursts Debris lies in front of the Radisson Blu hotel, where a huge aquarium located in the hotel's lobby burst on December 16, 2022 in Berlin. - The AquaDom aquarium has burst and the leaking water has forced the closure of a nearby street, police and firefighters said. Berlin police said on Twitter that as well as causing "incredible maritime damage", the incident left two people suffering injuries from glass shards. The cylindrical aquarium contained over a million litres of water and was home to around 1,500 tropical fish. It had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images) (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
The AquaDom aquarium in the foyer of a Radisson Collection hotel in Berlin has exploded, sending 264,000 gallons of water, glass and fish raining down, flowing outside of the hotel onto the street.
Berlin police said glass splinters from the aquarium injured at least two people, CNN reported.
Officials are still trying to find out why the aquarium burst at the Radisson Blu, BBC News reported.
“The whole aquarium burst and what’s left is total devastation. Lots of dead fish, debris,” hotel guest Sandra Weese told Reuters.
The tank held more than 100 different species of aquatic life and had an elevator that went up the center of the aquarium.
A spokesperson for Union Investment, which manages the fund that owns the property, told Reuters that all of the fish that had lived in the aquarium have died, but the workers were trying to rescue others that lived in smaller enclosures near the AquaDom. Those tanks were not damaged but power has been shut off to them.
The Berlin Zoological Garden has offered to take the surviving fish, The New York Times reported.
Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey said the scene looked like a tsunami, BBC News reported. A member of parliament said it was “a picture of devastation.”
Among the debris were twisted lamps and bellhop carts, all pushed out into the street from the rush of water as temperatures dipped to 19 degrees Fahrenheit, The New York Times reported.
About 100 firefighters responded to the scene and guests had to be evacuated.
Paul Maletzki was staying on the hotel’s fourth floor and was awakened by a loud bang and shaking. He looked to the lobby and saw water flowing across the floor, BBC News reported. He and other guests were eventually escorted from the hotel by police.
Hotel guest Naz Masraff told Reuters that “it felt like an earthquake.”
The AquaDom was installed in the hotel in 2003 and is the largest cylindrical free-standing aquarium in the world, the Times reported.
Aquarium bursts A firefighter walks past debris in front of the Radisson Blu hotel, where a huge aquarium located in the hotel's lobby burst on December 16, 2022 in Berlin. - The 14-metre high AquaDom aquarium has burst and the leaking water has forced the closure of a nearby street, police and firefighters said. Berlin police said on Twitter that as well as causing "incredible maritime damage", the incident left two people suffering injuries from glass shards. The cylindrical aquarium contained over a million litres of water and was home to around 1,500 tropical fish. It had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images) (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Aquarium bursts Debris lies in front of the Radisson Blu hotel, where a huge aquarium located in the hotel's lobby burst on December 16, 2022 in Berlin. - The AquaDom aquarium has burst and the leaking water has forced the closure of a nearby street, police and firefighters said. Berlin police said on Twitter that as well as causing "incredible maritime damage", the incident left two people suffering injuries from glass shards. The cylindrical aquarium contained over a million litres of water and was home to around 1,500 tropical fish. It had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images) (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Aquarium bursts Debris lies in front of the Radisson Blu hotel, where a huge aquarium located in the hotel's lobby burst on December 16, 2022 in Berlin. - The AquaDom aquarium has burst and the leaking water has forced the closure of a nearby street, police and firefighters said. Berlin police said on Twitter that as well as causing "incredible maritime damage", the incident left two people suffering injuries from glass shards. The cylindrical aquarium contained over a million litres of water and was home to around 1,500 tropical fish. It had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images) (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Aquarium bursts A dead fish lies in the debris in front of the Radisson Blu hotel, where a huge aquarium located in the hotel's lobby burst on December 16, 2022 in Berlin. - The AquaDom aquarium has burst and the leaking water has forced the closure of a nearby street, police and firefighters said. Berlin police said on Twitter that as well as causing "incredible maritime damage", the incident left two people suffering injuries from glass shards. The cylindrical aquarium contained over a million litres of water and was home to around 1,500 tropical fish. It had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images) (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Aquarium bursts A vehicle of the city cleaning department clears the street from debris in front of the Radisson Blu hotel, where a huge aquarium located in the hotel's lobby burst on December 16, 2022 in Berlin. - The 14-metre high AquaDom aquarium has burst and the leaking water has forced the closure of a nearby street, police and firefighters said. Berlin police said on Twitter that as well as causing "incredible maritime damage", the incident left two people suffering injuries from glass shards. The cylindrical aquarium contained over a million litres of water and was home to around 1,500 tropical fish. It had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images) (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Aquarium bursts An emergency with a dog walks in front of the Radisson Blu hotel after a huge aquarium located in the hotel's lobby burst on December 16, 2022 in Berlin. - The 14-metre high AquaDom aquarium has burst and the leaking water has forced the closure of a nearby street, police and firefighters said. Berlin police said on Twitter that as well as causing "incredible maritime damage", the incident left two people suffering injuries from glass shards. The cylindrical aquarium contained over a million litres of water and was home to around 1,500 tropical fish. It had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images) (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Aquarium bursts Debris lies in front of the Radisson Blu hotel, where a huge aquarium located in the hotel's lobby burst on December 16, 2022 in Berlin. - The AquaDom aquarium has burst and the leaking water has forced the closure of a nearby street, police and firefighters said. Berlin police said on Twitter that as well as causing "incredible maritime damage", the incident left two people suffering injuries from glass shards. The cylindrical aquarium contained over a million litres of water and was home to around 1,500 tropical fish. It had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images) (JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Aquarium bursts FILE PHOTO: On Children's Day on June 1, the AquaDom in SEA LIFE reopens after renovation work. Before the explosion on Dec. 16, there had been several species of sea life living in the aquarium including clownfish, poisonous foxfaces and swarms of silver fins. Photo: Annette Riedl/dpa (Photo by Annette Riedl/picture alliance via Getty Images) (picture alliance/dpa/picture alliance via Getty I)
Aquarium bursts FILE PHOTO: A diver cleans the glass of a giant, cylindrical aquarium as fish swim by at the AquaDom on March 22, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. Before the explosion on Dec. 16, the 25 meters tall aquarium, which contains approximately 1,500 fish from 50 different species, stood in the lobby of the SAS Radission Hotel. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)