Posted on 12/16/2022 5:01:14 PM PST by BenLurkin
A giant aquarium containing a million litres of water in the lobby of the Radisson Blu in Berlin has burst, flooding the hotel and nearby streets.
The "AquaDom" - home to 1,500 fish - is 15.85m high (52 ft) and was described as the largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium in the world.
Two people were injured by falling glass after the blast.
Police said there had been "incredible" damage. Video showed an empty tank with water pouring into the hotel lobby.
Guests have been moved out of the hotel following the incident at 05:50 (04:50 GMT).
A spokesman for Berlin's fire brigade told the BBC the vast majority of the fish had died, while the cold weather had made rescue attempts more difficult. The tank had contained more than 100 different species.
However, fire brigade official James Klein later told local media that "several dozen" fish had been found alive in places where residual water had collected. He said they were being rehoused in other aquariums.
Also, the Associated Press quoted officials as saying they were working to rescue another 400-500 fish in smaller tanks under the hotel lobby which had been deprived of oxygen because of the disaster.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Take THAT, Putin!!
I highly doubt the thing was made of glass. Almost certainly some sort of acrylic
Damn. I’ve stayed there. The aquarium is definitely the highlight.
I only have a 75 gallon tank but this story is making me nervous. Of course, I currently have no fish in the tank; my goldfish died in April but I’m planning on getting 3 fantails after the holidays.
Some things are just too big not to fail.
Didn’t utilize transparent a lu mini um I surmize.
Almost certainly. But it may have also had some glass components and I'd wager some of the surrounding building glass windows and balconies got blown out as a result of the sudden release.
It didn’t explode, it burst.
Acrylic ages much more quickly than glass.
Exposure to sunlight accelerates aging.
How long had this been in place?
I would think so, too. I can’t imagine the furnace to heat a +50 foot high tank made of glass. Acrylic is a two part polymer that is simply poured.
One of the fish probably strapped an explosive vest onto itself and went out in a blaze of Piscine glory.
Putin’s and the Euro-Watermelon’s fault.
I wonder if the tank was new or had been there for awhile? Article didn't say, or I missed it.
You could just put in a few dead fish and get ahead of the curve…
Still no doubt some of that renouned Cherman engineering? If you lose a war bad enough you ought to be kind of humble for awhile?
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