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The enormous cylindrical aquarium was a wonder, the centerpiece of a popular Berlin hotel. But in the early hours of Friday morning, it burst — and all of the roughly 1,500 fish it had contained are dead, officials say.
The catastrophic rupture sent 1 million liters (more than a quarter of a million gallons) of salt water — and fish — pouring into the street, as dozens of emergency response workers raced to the scene.
The aquarium was the centerpiece of a large atrium in the Radisson Collection Hotel — but the mass of water also blew parts of the hotel’s façade into the road.
Berlin Police say two people were hurt, the result of glass shards from the aquarium’s wall. They also say there are no signs of a crime.
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The building’s operator says the AquaDom aquarium was completely destroyed, and that the cause is not yet known. The hotel is now closed because of the damage, Radisson says, adding that all guests are being relocated.
The installation and hotel are part of the DomAquaree building, a complex that sits near the Berlin Cathedral. Its owner had touted the AquaDom aquarium at Sea Life Berlin as “the world’s largest freestanding cylindrical aquarium,” according to Deutsche Welle. A clear-sided elevator traveled through its center.
The aquarium reopened over the summer, after being shut down for modernization work in October of 2019, according to its website.
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Speaking at the scene shortly after the aquarium collapsed, Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey said that if the disaster had occurred just one hour later, when more people were in the streets of the bustling Mitte district, the toll might have been even worse.