1m litres of water pour out after 14-metre high aquarium bursts in Berlin

The world's largest aquarium containing 1,500 fish has burst in a Berlin hotel lobby, pouring out one million litres of water.

Footage of the aftermath shows the empty 14-metre-high (46ft) aquarium with nothing but the frame intact. The Radisson Blu lobby is seen completely destroyed by the disaster, leaving two injured from shards of glass.

It happened around 5:30am Friday (16 December), with debris reaching outside the complex, prompting police to close nearby Karl-Liebknecht street.

More than 100 emergency workers attended the scene, and canine units were deployed to find any hotel guests that may have been trapped under the debris.

The cause of the incident is still being investigated, but there is currently no evidence that it was the result of an attack.

Berlin Police said on Twitter: "In addition to the unbelievable maritime damage… two people were injured by glass splinters."

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

SWNS

The aquarium was awarded the Guinness World Record for the world's largest cylindrical aquarium and cost a staggering £11.2m to build.

DW correspondent Anna Saraste tweeted: "All 400 guests who were staying at the Radisson hotel have been evacuated.

"They are waiting to be transported to another hotel in Berlin."

One witness to the incident, Gwendolin Szyszkowitz, told the German news channel n-tv she feared a bomb had exploded in the hotel after hearing a loud bang.

"Our whole bed was shaking," another guest at the hotel told the Tagesspiegel newspaper. "I thought it was an earthquake."

Berlin’s mayor, Franziska Giffey, visited the scene. "A proper tsunami poured forth over the premises of the hotel and adjacent restaurants,” she said. “If the whole thing had happened an hour later, we would have had to report terrible human damage."

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.