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Police officers carry a plastic tub with rescued fish after a huge aquarium bursts in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. German police say a huge fish tank in the center of Berlin has burst, causing a wave of devastation in and around the Sea Life tourist attraction. (Soeren Stache/dpa via AP)
BERLIN (AP) — A U.S. 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 tropical fish crashing through the hotel lobby it was located in and onto the street outside.
Reynolds Polymer Technology, which says it manufactured and installed the cylinder component of the AquaDom tank 20 years ago, said in an emailed 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 6 a.m. 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 evening 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 neighboring aquarium that was unaffected.
The AquaDom aquarium opened in December 2003 and was modernized in 2020.
Grand Junction, Colorado-based Reynolds Polymer, 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.”
BERLIN (AP) — A U.S. 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 tropical fish crashing through the hotel lobby it was located in and onto the street outside.
Reynolds Polymer Technology, which says it manufactured and installed the cylinder component of the AquaDom tank 20 years ago, said in an emailed 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 6 a.m. 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 evening 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 neighboring aquarium that was unaffected.
The AquaDom aquarium opened in December 2003 and was modernized in 2020.
Grand Junction, Colorado-based Reynolds Polymer, 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.”
Two people hurt as huge Berlin aquarium bursts
Agence France-Presse
December 16, 2022
The 14-meter high AquaDom aquarium held a million litres of water
'Frozen parrot fish'
Berlin police said on Twitter that the incident had caused "incredible maritime damage" with the death of the hundreds of fish.
Water was also "massively" leaking onto the adjoining Karl Liebknecht Street, they said, forcing the partial closure of the major traffic artery. Tram service was also suspended.
The area around the complex was sealed off and sniffer dogs were being used to search for possible victims among the devastation.
Pictures and videos circulating online on Friday, apparently from guests staying at the hotel, showed extensive damage to the transparent aquarium, with only the frame still standing.
Bits of broken window panes and damaged furniture were scattered all around.
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.
The area where the aquarium once stood was now just "dark and wet" she said, recalling how she saw "one of those large parrot fish lying on the ground, frozen".
A drone was being used to survey the extent of the destruction, he added.
© 2022 AFP
Agence France-Presse
December 16, 2022
The 14-meter high AquaDom aquarium held a million litres of water
© John MACDOUGALL / AFP
A giant aquarium containing around 1,500 tropical fish burst in Berlin on Friday, flooding a hotel lobby and a nearby street and leaving two people injured, emergency services said.
It remains unclear what caused the incident at the 14-meter (26-foot) high AquaDom aquarium at around 5:50 am (0450 GMT), police said.
"A million liters of water and all the fish inside spilled onto the ground floor" of the hotel complex housing the aquarium, a spokesman for the Berlin fire department told AFP.
Two people suffered injuries from glass splinters and had to be hospitalized, the spokesman added.
More than 100 emergency workers were sent to the scene, which was scattered with glass and other debris.
The cylindrical AquaDom, which opened in 2004, was a popular tourist attraction in the German capital.
It is located in the foyer of a Radisson Blu hotel and had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex.
According to the Sea Life website, the AquaDomis WAS the largest cylindrical, freestanding aquarium in the world.
A giant aquarium containing around 1,500 tropical fish burst in Berlin on Friday, flooding a hotel lobby and a nearby street and leaving two people injured, emergency services said.
It remains unclear what caused the incident at the 14-meter (26-foot) high AquaDom aquarium at around 5:50 am (0450 GMT), police said.
"A million liters of water and all the fish inside spilled onto the ground floor" of the hotel complex housing the aquarium, a spokesman for the Berlin fire department told AFP.
Two people suffered injuries from glass splinters and had to be hospitalized, the spokesman added.
More than 100 emergency workers were sent to the scene, which was scattered with glass and other debris.
The cylindrical AquaDom, which opened in 2004, was a popular tourist attraction in the German capital.
It is located in the foyer of a Radisson Blu hotel and had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex.
According to the Sea Life website, the AquaDom
'Frozen parrot fish'
Berlin police said on Twitter that the incident had caused "incredible maritime damage" with the death of the hundreds of fish.
Water was also "massively" leaking onto the adjoining Karl Liebknecht Street, they said, forcing the partial closure of the major traffic artery. Tram service was also suspended.
The area around the complex was sealed off and sniffer dogs were being used to search for possible victims among the devastation.
Pictures and videos circulating online on Friday, apparently from guests staying at the hotel, showed extensive damage to the transparent aquarium, with only the frame still standing.
Bits of broken window panes and damaged furniture were scattered all around.
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.
The area where the aquarium once stood was now just "dark and wet" she said, recalling how she saw "one of those large parrot fish lying on the ground, frozen".
A drone was being used to survey the extent of the destruction, he added.
© 2022 AFP
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