Two people were injured by falling glass after a giant aquarium burst in the German capital city of Berlin on Friday.
Standing at 15.85m high, the “AquaDom” in the lobby of the Radisson Blu hotel was home to 1,500 fish, earning it the description as the world’s largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium.
The burst of the one million litres-of-water container (with more than 100 different species of fish) caused flooding in the hotel and nearby streets.
Video showed an empty tank with water pouring into the hotel lobby, the BBC reported.
Guests were moved out of the hotel following the incident which the police said caused “incredible” damage.
Berlin’s fire brigade said majority of the fish died and that the cold weather hampered rescue efforts, adding that “several dozen” fish were found alive in places where residual water collected and were being rehoused in other aquariums.
Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey, who visited the hotel to see the damage, described the tank burst as being like a tsunami.
She expressed relief it happened with no loss of lives.
The fire brigade said it was not clear what caused the break and a police source told local media there was no evidence it occurred as a result of a targeted attack.
But there has been speculation that freezing temperature may have caused a crack in the tank.
AquaDom, which was given the Guinness World Record for being the world’s largest cylindrical aquarium, was opened in December 2003.
Reports at the time of its construction said it cost about €12.8m to build.
