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Berlin: Major police operation as massive aquarium bursts
2 hours ago2 hours ago
More than 100 firefighters were called to the scene at the Radisson Blu hotel in the German capital’s Mitte district. Two people have so far been reported injured.
https://p.dw.com/p/4L2Mr
A 16-meter (52-foot) aquarium has burst at a hotel in downtown Berlin, injuring two people, German rescue services said on Friday.
More than 100 first responders had been called in to deal with the damage at the Radisson Blu in the German capital’s Mitte district, the cause of which was still unclear, Berlin’s fire service said.
“The aquarium is damaged, water is leaking. The situation is not clear at the moment,” the Berlin fire brigade wrote on Twitter.
“In addition to the unbelievable maritime damage… two people were injured by glass splinters,” Berlin police tweeted.
What do we know so far?
At around 5:45 a.m. local time (0445 GMT) there was a very loud noise and parts of the facade of the hotel where the aquarium was located flew onto the street, a police spokesman was reported as saying in local media outlet RBB.
Berlin’s traffic agency VIZ said an extremely large volume of water had spilled over onto the street outside while Berlin police said “massive amounts of water” have flowed onto the street.
Littered with debris, the area has been largely cordoned off while the street on which the hotel is located — Karl-Liebknecht Strasse — has been closed off.
“All 400 guests who were staying at the Radisson hotel have been evacuated,” DW correspondent Anna Saraste tweeted on Friday morning. “They are waiting to be transported to another hotel in Berlin.”
Outside temperatures in the German capital have plummeted in recent days, with Friday morning’s gauged at around -7 degrees Celsius (19.4°F).
‘World’s largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium’
The DomAquaree building lies just 350 meters from Berlin Cathedral and houses the Sea Life aquarium along with the so-called AquaDom, a giant tank which is home to some 1,500 tropical fish species.
A popular tourist attraction, the AquaDom is “the world’s largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium,” according to the DomAquaree website.
The 10-minute elevator ride through the aquarium was one of the highlights of the attraction.
jsi/es (Reuters, dpa, AFP)
