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Berlin Aquarium Bursts Open, Spilling Over 250,000 Gallons of Water

(Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)

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A Berlin hotel was engulfed in a torrent of water when a massive aquarium unexpectedly burst open, spilling its contents into the hotel lobby and out into the street Friday morning.

The 52-foot AquaDom saltwater aquarium located within the Radisson Blu hotel in Berlin exploded just before 6:00 a.m., spilling over 250,000 gallons of water, 1,500 fish and large amounts of debris in all directions, CBS News reported. Two people were injured, according to the New York Post


Calling it a “full-on tsunami,” Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey voiced her relief that the incident occurred so early in the day “when there weren’t many people around,” CBS reported.

“Despite the terrible destruction we’re seeing, we’re lucky people weren’t seriously injured,” Giffey said, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Hotel Collapse Leaves 8 Dead In China)

The fish weren’t so lucky — nearly all of the 1,500 fish in the tank died, per CBS.

Police said there appears to be no evidence that the incident was the result of a deliberate attack. Instead, they pointed to freezing overnight temperatures that could have created a crack in the tank, causing it to burst due to the sheer weight of the water behind it, the Post reported.

Hundreds of first responders arrived at the scene to evacuate guests from the hotel and assess safety and stability of the building after the ground floor sustained significant damage from the incident, CBS News reported.

The tank, built in 2003 for $14 million, held the Guinness World Record for the largest cylindrical aquarium before it burst, according to BBC. The Guinness web page for “Largest Cylindrical Aquarium” appears to have been updated to remove the AquaDom.