Status: 12/16/2022 6:27 p.m
A million liters of water leaked, hundreds of fish dead: the huge glass cylinder of the Berlin Aquadom was possibly too old after 18 years. In addition to the clean-up work, the search for the cause is now also underway in Berlin.
There’s a dead fish on the road. Firefighters stand among the rubble. And where there used to be an aquarium, only fragments can be seen. Guests of a Berlin hotel report that there was a loud bang in the morning. “We were really scared,” says one woman. Some only find out why later. The meter high Aquadom in the hotel has burst. Two people are injured by shrapnel – and most of the fish are dead.
The search for the cause of the accident has now begun. It is still unclear how and why the giant aquarium burst. Neither operator nor owner have an explanation. “We are currently trying to get a more accurate picture of the situation and the damage caused in coordination with the police and fire brigade on site,” said Fabian Hellbusch, spokesman for Union Investment.
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.
Image: dpa
The Sea Life company, which operates a large aquarium in the same building, was also “dismayed” and called for speculation “until the background to the accident has been clarified”. A visit to the now destroyed Aquadom could also be booked via the Sea Life website. The facility of the underwater world itself was not affected by the accident, it said.
Parts of the hotel’s facade flew onto the street, large amounts of water poured out of the hotel, fish lay on the street.
Image: AFP
“A veritable tsunami”
Berlin’s governing mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) spoke of immense destruction. “It’s a veritable tsunami that has spilled over the hotel premises, the adjacent restaurants,” Giffey said. There was great damage. But Berlin was very lucky, Giffey emphasized: “If the whole thing had happened just an hour later, then we would have to report terrible human damage.” She spoke of “luck in misfortune”.
Structural engineers would now have to check the security of the buildings. A lot of water ran into the sewage system, but also into the basement and neighboring facilities – such as the GDR Museum. According to Giffey, he expects “major demolition work”. In addition, it must be examined how the accident happened. “The Aquadom has just been renovated,” says Giffey.
Possibly material fatigue
“Of course, the investigation into the cause has not yet been completed, but the first signs point to material fatigue,” Berlin’s Interior Senator Iris Spranger told the dpa news agency. According to the police, there was initially no evidence of an attack. According to the fire brigade, the giant tank with a million liters of water was destroyed very quickly. “If the aquarium is defective, it bursts suddenly,” said a spokesman for the fire brigade. “It’s not a small crack from which the water is leaking, but the entire aquarium suddenly burst.” The ground floor is “completely in ruins”.
Hundreds of fish that were in the basement could be saved.
Image: dpa
Of the approximately 1,500 fish in the Aquadom, only a few survived in puddles; hundreds more fish in tanks in the basement, which were used for breeding, remained unharmed. Because the electricity for the oxygen supply and heating failed, they should be taken to the neighboring underwater world Sealife.
Well-known tourist attraction
According to the operator, the Berliner Gesellschaft für Großaquarien, the Aquadom was the “largest, cylindrical, free-standing aquarium in the world” and a well-known attraction in Berlin. It was an acrylic glass container 16 meters high and 11.5 meters in diameter. Visitors could ride through the interior of the aquarium in an elevator.
Fish from over 100 different species swam in the 1000 cubic meters of salt water. That corresponded to a weight of 1000 tons. According to the information, the aquarium was extensively modernized by summer 2020 and then only reopened in 2022 due to the corona pandemic. The construction is said to have cost almost 13 million euros almost 20 years ago according to communications and reports at the time.