Huge Aquarium Bursts, Wrecks Meetings Hotel in Germany

On December 16 in Berlin, Germany, the 427-room Radisson Collection Hotel was forced to close after its elevated lobby aquarium—standing approximately 50 feet tall and 35 feet wide and containing 260,000 gallons of water and 1,500 fish—burst without warning. The resulting wave wreaked havoc as it crashed through the lobby, blew through doors and windows, and rushed into the street.

According to this article from CBS News, “it was a tsunami that engulfed the hotel and neighboring restaurants,” said Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey, noting that it was sheer luck that the aquarium failure occurred at 5:45 a.m. and nobody was killed. Two people were hurt from flying plexiglass shards, according to Berlin police. The Wall Street Journal also reported that “the police were confident the incident was not the result of an intentional act.”

While there were about 350 people staying in the hotel at the time, it could not be determined whether any meeting groups were in house. Given that the property has 15 meeting rooms and 29,000 square feet of event space, though, the severe damage to the ground floor makes it probable that any events contracted to meet there in the foreseeable future will have to move.

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