The AquaDom aquarium at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin, Germany, burst today, leaving over 1500 exotic fish dead.
The AquaDom is said to be the largest free-standing aquarium in the world. Two people were injured by falling glass after the blast.
The 14-metre-high cylindrical tank held 1 million litres of water and housed 80 different species of fish before the burst.
Police said there had been “incredible” damage. Video showed an empty tank with water pouring into the hotel lobby.
The tank exploded just before 6 a.m. after a night of freezing temperatures in Berlin, The Guardian reported. Water rushed out of the building and onto the main road, forcing lamps, bellhop trolleys and retail merchandise into the street.
A spokesman for Berlin’s fire brigade told the BBC the vast majority of the fish had died, while the cold weather had made rescue attempts more difficult. The tank had contained more than 100 different species.
Fire brigade official James Klein later told local media that “several dozen” fish had been found alive in places where residual water had collected. He said they were being rehoused in other aquariums.
The cause of the aquarium’s destruction is unknown. Some have speculated the -10 C temperatures experienced in Berlin early Friday may have caused the tank to crack.
