Giant aquarium in Berlin bursts - witnesses report: "The hotel was shaking inside" 

Created: 2022-12-17 06:02

By: Alina Schroeder

Liters of water flood the street, the hotel is devastated: In Berlin, the largest aquarium in the world has burst.

Hotel guests report on the events.

Update from Friday, December 16, 4:18 p.m .:

After the devastating accident in a hotel in Berlin, more and more eyewitnesses are speaking up.

A huge aquarium had burst early Friday morning.

Two people were injured and around 1,500 fish were washed out of the Aquadome.

“I heard this huge explosion.

It almost sounded like fireworks," a woman who stayed at the hotel described the incident to

.

“The hotel was actually shaking inside.

I can describe it as a 'pfffff'.”

Another hotel guest reports that he initially assumed that something had fallen from the roof "because everything on the street was devastated." But inside the destruction is even more devastating.

“The whole lobby and bar area is totally shattered.

Totally under water.

Everything damaged.

I could not have imagined that damage to the aquarium could cause such devastation," he told

The atrium of a hotel is devastated and lies in ruins.

The huge Sea Life Aquarium in the Hotel Radisson Blue had burst.

Water poured onto the street.

© Iva Yudinski/dpa

Giant aquarium in Berlin bursts - eyewitnesses report destructive scenes

First report from Friday, December 16, 3:55 p.m.:

Berlin – On Friday morning (December 16), a catastrophe with devastating consequences occurred: the famous giant aquarium of Sea Life in Berlin burst near the cathedral.

This was the Aquadom, the world's largest free-standing aquarium with 1000 cubic meters of water and a total of 1500 fish from over 100 species.

This was located in the hotel lobby of the "Radisson Blu", which was severely damaged in the sudden explosion.

According to the police, two people were injured by broken glass and taken to the hospital.

The police spoke of a very loud noise or a bang that could be heard.

The fire brigade received an alarm from an automatic fire alarm in the hotel at 5:43 a.m.

Parts of the facade of the hotel had flown onto the street.

Large amounts of water ran out of the building and into the underground car park.

The police and fire brigade have been on duty with around 100 people since the early morning.

Several hundred people were evacuated.

Giant aquarium in Berlin burst: "We were really scared"

According to the fire brigade, the giant tank of the Aquadom with a million liters of water, through which an elevator also runs, was destroyed very quickly.

"It's not a small crack from which the water is leaking, but the entire aquarium suddenly burst," said a spokesman for the fire brigade.

Guests of the hotel in Berlin-Mitte unanimously reported an explosion-like bang.

"We were really scared," said a young woman who had only arrived on Thursday evening, the

.

A man told the

newspaper: "We heard a loud crack.

Then we woke up.” His wife also saw something flying past the window.

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A picture of destruction: In Berlin, a giant aquarium burst in a hotel lobby.

© Annette Riedl/dpa;

instagram/tnn |

Iva Yudinski/dpa;

Mounting: red

"Everything flooded with water": Aquarium explosion destroys hotel lobby

"I didn't understand what happened at all.

I called my friend and went to her room.

From there we saw the aquarium and all the destruction.

Everything is flooded with water," said a woman to the

.

Initially, there was no information from the hotel, several guests said.

The reception could not be reached via the landline.

"After 8 a.m. the information came that we had to go out," said the young woman.

"You could see the whole thing was falling apart," said a young hotel guest.

Numerous videos and images are circulating online showing the extent of the destruction around the Aquadom.

Guests report destroyed furniture and numerous dead fish that are said to have been lying in the lobby.

All around 1,500 fish were washed out, said a fire department spokesman.

Aquarium explodes in Berlin hotel: what happens to the fish now?

In the meantime, numerous people on social networks are expressing concern about the many tropical fish that were at home in the former giant aquarium.

"I want to know how the fish are doing," writes a user on Twitter, adding a sad smiley.

The sad news: Most of the animals were killed in the incident, as district councilor Almut Neumann confirmed to the

.

But some of them were saved.

"Unfortunately, many big fish died, but small fish survived," says Neumann.

The fish from the Aquadom have now been temporarily housed in various aquariums in the basement of the hotel.

However, since the power supply had also failed there, action had to be taken soon.

"They have to go out at some point if the electricity cannot be switched on," said Neumann.

If this does not succeed soon, the plan is to house the animals in the zoo, among other things.

(asc/sne/dpa)