In the center of Berlin, the world’s largest cylindrical aquarium exploded – the 16-meter AquaDom standing in the lobby of the Radisson Blu hotel, Die Zeit reported, referring to the press service of the local police.
The incident occurred in the early morning hours of December 16. Initially, emergency services reported that the aquarium was leaking due to damage. Later it was learned that the aquarium was completely destroyed, as the water with the fish living in it spilled out.
According to Der Spiegel, there was a loud noise at the time of the accident, parts of the facade of the hotel flew into the street, water spilled.
“The aquarium in my hotel exploded at midnight. WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?
A total of 1 million liters of water flowed from the aquarium. Karl-Liebknecht-Straße, on which the DomAquaree complex is located, was flooded and had to be closed.
Losses and destruction
About 1500 tropical fish of 100 different species lived in the aquarium, most of them died. Hotel staff and visitors – about 350 people – managed to evacuate, but two were injured.
“In addition to the incredible loss of marine life, two people were injured by shards of glass,” Berlin police said.
Rescuers are at the scene with a total of about 100 people. The destroyed first floor was searched by rescue dogs.
“We are on duty with 100 emergency personnel at DomAquaree Hotel. The aquarium is damaged, the water is leaking,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Radisson Collection Hotel, where the aquarium is located, told Euronews that no visitors were harmed. We are investigating the cause of the incident together with the authorities. We have closed the hotel until further notice and are relocating guests.”
Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey, who arrived at the scene, compared the results of the aquarium explosion to a tsunami.
He expressed relief that this happened early in the morning, as the lobby and street would be occupied by visitors, mostly children, within an hour.
Federal MP Sandra Wieser, who was staying at the hotel, said the scene after the accident reminded her of a war zone. “It was a wreck with lots of dead fish and splinters,” she said, describing the dying fish on the sidewalk. Those who could be saved froze to death,” she said.
However, rescuers tried to get the surviving fish to safety. Berlin Zoo offered to accept fish that could be saved.
Why did the aquarium explode?
“If the aquarium is faulty, it will explode suddenly,” a firefighter spokesperson told Der Spiegel.
The aquarium was designed by Russian-born German architect Sergey Tchoban. Especially in Russia, according to his project, a complex of skyscrapers “Federation” was built in the business center “Moscow City”, he also took part in the reconstruction of Luzhniki and the creation of home stadiums for CSKA and Dynamo.
In an interview with socialbites.ca, Sergei Tchoban said that he does not know what could cause the destruction of the aquarium.
“How can you guess why? The hotel has been operating for 20 years. How do I know what could happen? Of course, I’m very sorry for the fish, it’s understandable. There is nothing to talk about, the situation is clear,” he said.
AquaDom was opened in 2003, the cost of the project is 12.8 million euros, the height of the aquarium is 16 m, the diameter is 11.5 m, the weight of the structure is about 2000 tons. Due to its proximity to natural conditions, it was possible to grow an artificial coral reef in the cylinder. Inside the aquarium, a glass elevator worked, elevating visitors and opening up a 360-degree view.
There is an aquarium similar in shape and appearance in the Moscow Aviapark shopping center. This is the longest cylindrical aquarium in the world. RBC writes that the 23 meter high and 6 meter diameter aquarium contains 370,000 liters of seawater and about 2,500 fish swim in it.
In 2020, the aquarium in Moscow was overhauled.