A huge aquarium in Berlin burst in the early hours of Friday, letting out huge pieces of debris, water and a large amount of fish. Two people have reportedly suffered minor injuries.
The incident happened in AquaDom. According to officials, nearly 1 million litres of water spilt out of the aquarium shortly after 6 am.
The company that owns the AquaDom, Union Investment Real Estate, said in a statement that the reasons for the incident were “still unclear.”
Berlin’s Mayor Franziska Giffey said the timing of the incident prevented a major human tragedy. “Despite all the destruction, we were still very lucky,” she said. “We would have had terrible human damage” had the aquarium burst even an hour later, once more people were awake and in the hotel and the surrounding area, she said.
The building contained a hotel, cafes and a chocolate store, that were damaged in the accident. Around 300 guests in the hotel have been evacuated to a safe place, police said.
According to a hotel guest Sandra Wesser, she was woken up by a large noise. Sandra initially thought an earthquake had occurred. “There are shards [of glass] everywhere. The furniture, everything has been flooded with water,” she said.
The aquarium contained nearly 1,500 fish of which many have died. Berlin Mitte district government confirmed via Twitter, adding “a few fish at the bottom of the tank” could still be saved. The aquarium housed around 80 types of fish, including blue tang and clownfish.
Veterinarians, fire service officers and other officials tried their best to save the fish but with no supply of oxygen, their efforts were in vain.
“It’s a great tragedy that for 1,500 fish there was no chance of survival,” said Almut Neumann, a city official in charge of environmental issues for Berlin’s Mitte district. “Our focus was clearly on saving the fish in the remaining tanks,” he said.
Tweeting about the incident, animal rights group Peta described aquariums as ‘death traps’. “This man-made tragedy shows that aquariums are not a safe place for fish and other marine life,” the tweet said.
