BERLIN (AP) — A U.S. company that helped build a huge aquarium in Berlin says it is sending a team to investigate the rupture of the tank, which sent a wave of debris, water and tropical fish crashing through the hotel lobby it was located in and onto the street outside.
Reynolds Polymer Technology, which says it manufactured and installed the cylinder component of the AquaDom tank 20 years ago, said in an emailed statement that "at this point, it is too early to determine the factor or factors that would produce such a failure."
A fish lays in the debris in front of a hotel where an huge aquarium has burst in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022.Soeren Stache/dpa via AP
Police have said they found no evidence of a malicious act but the cause of the spectacular collapse shortly before 6 a.m. on Friday, in which two people were slightly injured, remains unclear. Berlin's top security official, Iris Spranger, told German news agency dpa on Friday that "first indications point to material fatigue."
Officials said on Friday evening that the hotel building itself was assessed to be safe.
Debris lay in front of a hotel in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022.Christoph Soeder/dpa via AP
The local government said that nearly all of the 1,500 fish that were inside at the time of the rupture died but "a few fish at the bottom of the tank" were saved. About 400 to 500 mostly small fish from a separate set of aquariums housed under the hotel lobby were evacuated to other tanks in a neighboring aquarium that was unaffected.
The AquaDom aquarium opened in December 2003 and was modernized in 2020.
Grand Junction, Colorado-based Reynolds Polymer, which says on its website that 41 of its acrylic panels were used in building the tank cylinder, said it "offers its sincere concern" to the hotel guests and workers who were affected and to those who were injured. It said that "we are also deeply saddened by the animals and aquatic life lost."
Following the burst of a huge aquarium, the atrium of a hotel is devastated in Berlin Germany, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. German police say a huge aquarium in the center of Berlin has burst, causing a wave of devastation in and around the Sea Life tourist attraction. The words in Hebrew reads: 'The Aquarium exploded'.instagram/tnn/dpa via AP
Following the burst of a huge aquarium, the atrium of a hotel is devastated in Berlin Germany, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. German police say a huge aquarium in the center of Berlin has burst, causing a wave of devastation in and around the Sea Life tourist attraction. The words in Hebrew reads: 'The Aquarium exploded'.instagram/tnn/dpa via AP
