BERLIN, Dec 16 (Reuters) – An aquarium in Berlin burst early on Friday, spilling 1 million liters (264,172 gallons) of water and debris onto a main road in the busy Mitte district, emergency services said Above, there are about 1,500 exotic fish. .
About 100 emergency crews were called to the scene, which is a leisure center that also houses a Radisson Blu hotel, a museum and an aquarium.
Sea Life Berlin offers a glass elevator ride through the Aquadom, said to be the world’s largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium at 14 meters (46 feet) high.
Glass shards injured two people and police evacuated the hotel in the building over concerns of possible structural damage.
“It was just chaos. The whole aquarium burst and all that was left was utter devastation. A lot of dead fish and debris,” hotel guest Sandra Weathers told Reuters.
The Berlin fire brigade said on Twitter that dogs searched the ground floor of the building, which was littered with debris and inaccessible to rescuers, but found no casualties.
A fire brigade spokesman told Reuters it was unclear what caused the AquaDom to burst.
[1/7] BERLIN, GERMANY, DECEMBER 16, 2022 Emergency services work on the street outside the hotel after a burst and leak occurred at the AquaDom aquarium near Alexanderplatz in central Berlin, causing water to pour onto the street. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi
“Unbelievable” damage
Sea Life said on its website that it will remain closed on Friday because of the incident. The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Neither the fire brigade nor police have commented on the fish’s fate, although police tweeted that “maritime has caused incredible damage”.
About 350 people who had been staying at the hotel were asked to pack their bags and leave the building, a fire brigade spokesman said.
Police said buses were dispatched to provide shelter for people leaving hotels as outside temperatures in Berlin hovered around -7 degrees Celsius (19.4°F).
Emergency services closed a main road next to the complex leading from Alexanderplatz to the Brandenburg Gate due to the flood of water gushing from the building.
According to the DomAquaree complex’s website, the aquarium was last renovated in 2020. During the upgrade work, all the water in the tanks was drained and the fish were transferred to the aquarium in the basement of the building, where there is a breeding facility for the fish.
Written by Rachel More and Maria Sheahan, Edited by Kirsti Knolle, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Gareth Jones
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