Team sent to investigate Berlin hotel aquarium that burst killing fish

US company sends team to investigate rupture of mega-aquarium they built that exploded in Berlin hotel and showered guests with 1,500 dead fish

• The US company made and installed a component of the aquarium 20 years ago
• The huge tank collapsed on Friday, leaving two people with minor injuries
• Some 1,500 fish housed in the aquarium were killed when the tank exploded

A US company that helped build a huge aquarium in Berlin says it is sending a team to investigate the rupture of the tank, which sent a wave of debris, water, and 1,500 tropical fish cascading through the hotel lobby.

The 82ft-high tank, located in the foyer of the Radisson Blu hotel in central Berlin, burst at around 5.50am on Friday, killing 1,500 tropical fish housed there.

The shattering of the AquaDom aquarium sent one million litres of water gushing through the reception and cut off electricity in the hotel. Two people were injured from glass shards and received treatment at hospital.

However, the toll could have been far deadlier had the freak accident occurred an hour later, when the hotel lobby is usually packed with visitors. 

The 82ft-high tank, located in the foyer of the Radisson Blu hotel in central Berlin , burst at around 5.50am on Friday, killing 1,500 tropical fish housed there

The shattering of the AquaDom aquarium sent one million litres of water gushing into the lobby and cut off electricity in the hotel

Reynolds Polymer Technology, which says it manufactured and installed the cylinder component of the aquarium tank 20 years ago, said in a statement that ‘at this point, it is too early to determine the factor or factors that would produce such a failure’.

Police have said they found no evidence of a malicious act but the cause of the spectacular collapse shortly before 6am on Friday, in which two people were slightly injured, remains unclear.

Berlin’s top security official, Iris Spranger, told German news agency DPA on Friday that ‘first indications point to material fatigue’.

Officials said on Friday that the hotel building itself was assessed to be safe.

The local government said that nearly all of the 1,500 fish that were inside at the time of the rupture died but ‘a few fish at the bottom of the tank’ were saved.

About 400 to 500 mostly small fish from a separate set of aquariums housed under the hotel lobby were evacuated to other tanks in a neighbouring aquarium that was unaffected.

The aquarium opened in December 2003 and was modernised in 2020.

The local government said that nearly all of the 1,500 fish that were inside at the time of the rupture died but ‘a few fish at the bottom of the tank’ were saved

The AquaDom aquarium pictured after it burst on Friday morning in Berlin, Germany

Footage from inside the hotel showed extensive damage to the transparent aquarium, with only the frame still standing

Reynolds Polymer, based in the US, which says on its website that 41 of its acrylic panels were used in building the tank cylinder, said it ‘offers its sincere concern’ to the hotel guests and workers who were affected and to those who were injured.

It said that ‘we are also deeply saddened by the animals and aquatic life lost’.

There was speculation freezing temperatures that got down to minus 10 degrees Celsius (14F) overnight caused a crack in the acrylic glass tank, which then exploded under the weight of the water. 

Police said there was no evidence the incident resulted from an attack. 

Footage from inside the hotel showed extensive damage to the transparent aquarium, with only the frame still standing.

Broken window panes and damaged furniture were scattered near the scene.

More than 100 emergency workers and rescue dogs were deployed to search the building for anyone who might be trapped under the debris, Berlin’s firefighting service said. 

‘The aquarium is damaged, water is leaking out. The situation is unclear at the moment,’ it said. ‘A million litres of water and all the fish inside spilled onto the ground floor.’ 

The 82ft-high tank in the foyer of the Radisson Blu hotel in central Berlin burst at around 5.50am, killing 1,500 tropical fish housed in the aquarium

The local government said that nearly all of the 1,500 fish that were inside at the time of the rupture died but ‘a few fish at the bottom of the tank’ were saved

About 400 to 500 mostly small fish from a separate set of aquariums housed under the hotel lobby were evacuated to other tanks in a neighbouring aquarium that was unaffected

German lawmaker Sandra Weeser, who was staying at the hotel when the aquarium burst, said she was woken up by ‘a kind of shock wave’.

‘There was a slight tremor of the building and my first guess was an earthquake,’ she told the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper.

‘There are shards (of glass) everywhere. The furniture, everything has been flooded with water,’ she said. ‘It looks a bit like a war zone.’ 

The area where the aquarium once stood was now just ‘dark and wet’ she said, recalling how she saw ‘one of those large parrotfish lying on the ground, frozen’.

Hotel guest Claudia Gonzales said she ‘jolted out of bed’ when the aquarium burst.

‘It sounded almost like a firework but the hotel actually shook inside,’ she said.

Police said a Lindt chocolate store and several restaurants in the same building complex, as well as an underground parking garage next to the hotel, sustained damage from the incident. 

Debris from the aquarium that exploded on Friday is seen on the ground in front of the Radisson Blu hotel in Berlin, Germany

A man looks through the debris that cascaded out of the Radisson Blu hotel yesterday after the aquarium burst

Debris lies in front of the Radisson Blu hotel, where the huge aquarium in the hotel’s lobby burst on Friday

A fire service spokesman said building safety experts were assessing the extent to which the hotel had sustained structural damage.

Hours after the incident, trucks began clearing away the debris that had spilled out onto the street in front of the hotel. 

The cylindrical aquarium is located in the foyer of a Radisson Blu hotel and has a clear-walled elevator built inside that was used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex, which also has a hotel, shops and restaurants. 

Operators say the aquarium has the biggest cylindrical tank in the world and contained 1,500 tropical fish of 80 different species before the incident. 

The aquarium, which was built in 2004, was last refurbished in 2020, according to the website of the DomAquaree complex. 

During the upgrading work, all the water was drained from the tank and the fish were moved to aquariums in the basement of the building, where there is a breeding care facility for the fish, it said. 

The Bild newspaper said the aquarium had only reopened this summer after a two-year renovation that cost around 2.6 million euros (£2.2 million).

 

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