Huge aquarium in Berlin burst: fine hairline crack to blame for the accident?
Former cleaning diver expresses himself
Created: 12/17/2022 11:39 am
By: Jennifer Lanzinger
The "largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium in the world" was extensively modernized in 2020.
© Annette Riedl/dpa/Archive
Even one day after the accident in Berlin, the final cause of the bursting of the aquarium has not yet been determined.
A former diver of the Aquadom now commented.
Berlin - It is a tragic accident that happened at the Berlin Cathedral on Friday (December 16).
The capital's aquarium was a well-known tourist attraction.
It burst open early Friday morning.
There are initial assumptions about the cause of the accident, but the exact reason for the accident has not yet been clarified.
Now a former diver of the aquarium comments.
Aquarium bursts in Berlin hotel lobby: Huge bang tears hotel guests from their sleep
It was a huge bang that roused hotel guests from their sleep on Friday.
The huge Aquadom aquarium with 1,500 fish in a hotel near Alexanderplatz has burst.
A million liters of water poured out of the destroyed 16 meter high glass cylinder in the very early morning into the hotel and onto the street.
Just because most of the hotel guests and employees weren't up so early in the morning, a major catastrophe should have been avoided.
Only two people were slightly injured in the accident.
The police initially suspected an attack, but fortunately this has not yet been confirmed.
Instead, material fatigue is suspected in the 16 meter high Aquadom.
According to the fire brigade, the giant container in the hotel's atrium, through which an elevator runs, was destroyed on the spot.
"If the aquarium is defective, then it bursts suddenly," said a spokesman.
"It's not a small crack from which the water is leaking, but the entire aquarium has suddenly burst." The ground floor is "completely in ruins".
In previous years, professional divers, among other things, ensured that visitors and hotel guests had a breathtaking view of the attraction.
Former diver comments: Matthias T. cleaned the inside of the Aquadome
In an interview with the
Berliner Zeitung
, a former diver who had helped to clean the aquarium commented.
Accordingly, Matthias T. cleaned the panes of the giant aquarium from the inside.
At that time, a few years ago, T. was employed by a company.
When the diver climbed into the aquarium, he himself became an attraction for visitors.
In order to be allowed to clean the aquarium from the inside, the diving instructor had to show at least one certificate as a divemaster.
As the diving instructor explained in an interview with the
Berliner Zeitung
, he entered the pool from above via a ladder: “You went into the water from above via a ladder, which was relatively narrow.
Because with all the diving equipment and the tank on your back, there was a risk that you could get to the panes with the tank, especially if you put on your fins at the bottom”.
When asked by the newspaper whether this could possibly cause hairline cracks in the aquarium, the diving instructor explained in an interview: “Maybe.
Its possible".
According to him, the aquarium was cleaned daily by four divers and on weekends by two divers.
Huge aquarium bursts in Berlin: many fish die in a tragic accident
Particularly tragic: only a few fish survived the accident near Berlin's Alexanderplatz.
Hotel guests reported dead fish lying everywhere on the soaked ground floor among the remains of the pool.
Hundreds more survived in tanks in the basement used for breeding.
The Sea Life with many other large and small aquariums is a little further away in the same building complex and remained intact.
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Berlin's governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) spoke of immense destruction at the scene of the accident.
"It's a veritable tsunami that has swept through the hotel space, the adjacent restaurants," Giffey said.
But Berlin was very lucky.
"If the whole thing had happened just an hour later, then we would have to report terrible human damage," she said, speaking of "luck in misfortune".