The disaster occurs in the morning hours. A 16 meter high aquarium bursts in the foyer of a Berlin hotel. The water destroys parts of the facade and pours out into the open. Structural engineers now have to check the entire building. And it could have been even worse.
A bang with devastating consequences shook Berlin this morning: The huge Aquadom aquarium with 1,500 fish in a hotel near Alexanderplatz burst. A million liters of water poured out of the destroyed 16 meter high glass cylinder into the hotel and onto the street. But because numerous hotel guests were not out on the ground floor so early in the morning, only two people were slightly injured. According to the police, there was no evidence of a targeted, violent attack. Instead, material fatigue is suspected in the 16 meter high Aquadom.
The police and many hotel guests spoke of a very loud 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 hotel’s facade flew onto the street, large amounts of water poured out of the hotel. The police and fire brigade had been at the scene of the accident with around 100 emergency services each since the morning.
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 suddenly burst.” The ground floor is “completely in ruins”. Of the approximately 1,500 fish in the water, only a few survived in puddles.
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. According to the Berlin fire brigade, they were still able to find a few dozen fish alive in the lower area of ??the burst vessel. Special forces would have recovered them, said fire department spokesman James Klein. “I think it was about three vats in number.” These are freshwater and saltwater fish. The animals would now be housed separately. The saltwater fish therefore come to the neighboring underwater world with other aquariums. The freshwater fish are to be brought to the zoo’s aquariums on Saturday morning.
Structural engineers 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 the operator, the Aquadom was the “largest, cylindrical, free-standing aquarium in the world”, a well-known attraction in Berlin. It was an acrylic glass container that was 11.5 meters in diameter. The slices are said to have been 20 centimeters thick. Fish from more than 100 different species swam in the 1000 cubic meters of salt water (one million litres). That corresponded to a weight of 1000 tons.
According to the information, the aquarium had been extensively modernized by summer 2020 and 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.
Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey spoke of immense destruction at the scene of the accident. “It’s a veritable tsunami that spilled over the hotel premises and the adjacent restaurants,” said the SPD politician. 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.
The company that owns the Aquadom was “dismayed by the accident”. The reason for the bursting of the huge cylinder is still “completely unclear,” said a spokesman for Union Investment. “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.” Berlin’s Interior Senator Iris Spranger said: “Of course, the investigation into the cause has not yet been completed, but the first signs point to material fatigue.”
Sea Life was also dismayed. At the same time, the company emphasized the independence of the large aquarium: “The Aquadom is an independent attraction and is not owned by Sea Life Berlin, nor is Sea Life Berlin responsible for maintenance and repairs,” said a statement. The visit to the large aquarium was included in tickets and marketing activities. However, the owner is Union Investment.
According to the fire brigade, a large part of the Aquadom water ran through the doors on the ground floor onto the street and there into the gullies. Not much water was found in the basement, the fire department said. The destroyed ground floor was searched for people with rescue dogs. Due to the severe damage, the hotel guests had to leave the building. Almost 300 people were still in the hotel. Some of them unanimously reported an explosion-like bang.
According to the Technical Relief Agency (THW), the pumping work should last into the night. Specialist consultant Friedrich Engel spoke of a debris field inside the building. In the early evening, the helpers were pumping the underground car park empty. At the same time, the last koi carp were saved under the rubble.
