The world’s largest free standing aquarium which is located in the Radisson Blu hotel in Berlin suddenly exploded this morning.
Bro what the fuck the fish tank of my hotel just exploded in the middle of the night WHATS GOING ON. #radissonblu #Berlin #aquarium #Explosion pic.twitter.com/Od8iS9YxBN
— Niklas Scheele (@niklas_scheele) December 16, 2022
Hundreds of guests were evacuated from the hotel after the 15.85 m high (52 ft) “AquaDom” which contained about 1,500 tropical fish, including 56 different species, suddenly burst, sending gallons of water gushing through the lobby.
DW News reported that more than100 first responders were called to the scene to deal with the damage in the Berlin district of Mitte.
The cause of the incident is still unclear, with an emergency service official stating that “The aquarium is damaged, water is leaking. The situation is not clear at the moment,”
Berlin police tweeted “In addition to the unbelievable maritime damage… two people were injured by glass splinters,”.
https://twitter.com/72powpow/status/1603681131630538752
A spokesperson for Berlin fire brigade who rushed to the scene said that rescue efforts were hampered by the cold weather and that most of the marine life could not be saved.
A guest on the fourth floor described being woken up by a loud bang and shaking just before 5am GMT when the burst took place.
Update- being evacuated from #radissonblu and #aquadome now. Here’s my view as we left pic.twitter.com/vCjXjZde40
— Dr Lara Rimmer (@lararimmer) December 16, 2022
The Aquadom, which was featured in the Guinness Book of World Records , can bee seen here in all its former glory
Such sad news that this incredible piece of engineering is now gone, together with all the biodiversity it held!
Thankfully, no other serious injuries were registered.#aquadome #aquadom #radissonblu #berlin pic.twitter.com/yNOHlMxXPY— João Rocha Gomes (@JoaoRochaGomes) December 16, 2022
Water is reported to have gushed out onto the street with speculation that temperatures of -6 may have contributed to the glass breaking.
Construction of the AquaDom was completed in 2004 with the project costing €12.8 million.
#INFO
Before Exploding the view of AQUARIUM in Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin 👇 pic.twitter.com/wLg59CM5A0— LW World News (@LoveWorld_Peopl) December 16, 2022