BERLIN (Reuters) – An aquarium in Berlin that was home to about 1,500 exotic fish exploded early on Friday, spilling 1 million liters (264,172 gallons) of water and debris onto a main road in the busy Mitte district, emergency services said. .
About 100 emergency responders rushed to the scene, an entertainment complex that includes a Radisson hotel, museum, shops and restaurants as well as what the DomAquaree complex says is the largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium in the world at 14 meters (46 feet) high.
“In addition to the unbelievable marine damage… two people were injured by shards of glass,” Berlin police said on Twitter.
A spokesman for the Berlin Fire Brigade said emergency responders were unable to reach the ground floor of the building because of the debris. He added that search and rescue dogs were dispatched to the scene.
[1/7] Emergency services work on a street outside a hotel after the AquaDom aquarium in central Berlin near Alexanderplatz exploded and leaked, with water pouring into the street, in Berlin, Germany, on December 16, 2022. REUTERS/Michel Tantussi
The spokesman said it was still not clear what caused the sinkhole to explode. The firefighters and police did not comment on the fate of the fish.
About 350 people who were staying at the hotel in the complex were told to pack up and leave the building, a firefighter spokesman said.
Police said buses were sent to the complex to provide shelter for people leaving the hotel as outside temperatures in Berlin were around -7 degrees Celsius (19.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Emergency services closed a main road next to the complex that leads from Alexanderplatz towards the Brandenburg Gate because of the large amount of water that flooded the building.
Writing by Rachael Moore and Maria Sheehan; Editing by Kirsty Knoll, Emilia Sithole Matares and Gareth Jones
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