Huge aquarium bursts, housed 1,500 tropical fish
A massive aquarium inside the lobby of a posh Berlin hotel burst Friday morning, sending over 200,000 gallons of water and 1,500 tropical fish into the streets.
At least two people were injured when the 52-foot-tall AquaDom aquarium exploded at the Radisson Collection Hotel shortly before 6 a.m. local time, German police said. Three hundred guests were evacuated from the hotel by over 100 first responders.
A video of the aftermath of the incident shows glass and other debris scattered through the lobby and out into the road.
It is speculated that freezing overnight temperatures of 14 degrees Fahrenheit caused a crack in the tank, which then burst due to the weight of the water. Police said there is no evidence the incident was the result of a deliberate attack.
Nearly all of the 1,500 fish in the tank died, the Berlin Mitte district government tweeted, adding that a “few fish at the bottom of the tank” could still be saved.
The impressive display included 80 types of fish, including blue tang and clownfish — two species featured in the kid movie “Finding Nemo.”
“It’s a picture of devastation with lots of dead fish and broken shards,” Sandra Weeser, a member of the federal parliament who was staying at Radisson Blu, said in an interview later Friday morning.
“The [fish] that might have been saved were frozen to death.”
Another witness, Gwendolin Szyszkowitz told German’s n-tv that she heard a loud bang, and initially feared that a bomb had gone off.
According to the New York Times, about 1,500 tropical fish representing 100 different species were housed in the cylindrical aquarium, which enclosed the hotel’s glass elevator.
The tank, which held the Guinness World Record for largest cylindrical aquarium, reportedly cost $14 million to built when it debuted at the Radisson Blu in 2003.
With Post wires
