Berlin’s giant AquaDom hotel aquarium explodes; 1500 fish bursts
In a scene that the city’s mayor compared to a “true tsunami,” a gigantic aquarium explosion at a Berlin hotel early on Friday morning released 1,500 tropical fish into the lobby and flooded the city’s central business district with debris and hundreds of thousands of gallons of seawater.
264,000 gallons of water “burst abruptly” from the AquaDom tourist attraction at the Radisson Blu hotel in Berlin’s Mitte district just before 6 a.m. local time, according to the city’s fire department. According to the fire service, two people needed minor medical attention after being stung by glass splinters from the aquarium’s broken glass.
Police reported that “massive amounts of water” were pouring onto the street as about 100 firefighters arrived on the site. Social media videos from hotel visitors show extensive damage and water cascading everywhere except in the empty tank. Glass fragments, broken lights, bellhop carts, and tables can be seen all across the lobby.
Franziska Giffey, the mayor of Berlin, expressed relief that no one had been gravely hurt when she arrived to evaluate what the Berlin police had called “unbelievable maritime devastation.” According to authorities, 300 visitors and personnel were able to leave the facility unharmed.
Berlin’s giant AquaDom hotel aquarium explodes; 1500 fish bursts
“Despite all the destruction, we were still very lucky,” Giffey said, according to the Associated Press. The mayor added that “we would have had terrible human damage” had the aquarium burst even an hour later on Friday.
The cause of the aquarium explosion is still not clear and is under investigation, the fire service said. Police told reporters that there is no evidence that the incident was a planned attack. Berlin is experiencing freezing temperatures that got down to as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit overnight.
Here are images of collapse
