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Radisson Collection Berlin’s famous lobby aquarium explodes, injuring two

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Over the years we have used the photo below on the site in various stories about Radisson Hotels.

It is the Radisson Collection hotel in Berlin, until recently a Radisson Blu, which contains a huge aquarium in its lobby.

Or, indeed, ‘did’ contain a huge aquarium in its lobby.

Radisson Blu Berlin

Called the AquaDom and built at a cost of €12m, it is 45 feet high and contains 1,500 tropical fish.

The hotel called it ‘the largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium in the world’ although I’m not sure there is much competition for that title.

At 6.30am on Friday morning, the aquarium appears to have exploded. There is no indication as to how it happened.

Two people were reportedly injured by glass shards – a low number presumably due to the timing of the incident. The street outside the hotel has had to be closed due to flooding and, presumably, dead fish and lots of glass. The aquarium apparently contained over one million litres of water.

There is a video of the damage on the BBC News website here.

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Comments (71)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Mouse says:
    16 Dec16 December 10:11

    Something fishy about this story

  • Bill says:
    16 Dec16 December 10:13

    Omg those poor animals

    • Skywalker says:
      16 Dec16 December 10:53

      +1 those poor creatures indeed 🙁

      • CarpalTravel says:
        16 Dec16 December 11:17

        My immediate thought too. 🙁

      • Littlefish says:
        16 Dec16 December 12:38

        Indeed, doesn’t look like any of the fish survived (or then had anywhere to be immediate re-housed). Very sad.

        • BJ says:
          16 Dec16 December 12:50

          One might get lucky and be re-born as a future Radisson CEO so no need to feel so sad.

        • Novice says:
          16 Dec16 December 14:02

          I didn’t mean it like that. I probably should have thought it through when wrote. I meant the phrase where consumerism.

          Anyway I’m so sad about this.

    • Amy C says:
      16 Dec16 December 12:00

      Yep, that was all I cared about when I first read this. A very pretty and entertaining feature but not where the fish should have been.

  • ianM says:
    16 Dec16 December 10:18

    Million LITRES

    • Rob says:
      16 Dec16 December 10:36

      Ah yes, those fancy Europeans trying to use metric measurements. What’s wrong with gallons, or indeed hogshead etc.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
        16 Dec16 December 10:52

        or Firkins!

        How many butts of malmsey would it take to fill it?

        Blooming Europeans using European measurements!

      • RussellH says:
        16 Dec16 December 10:59

        With gallons, you have to make it clear whether they are imperial or US customary gallons.
        A hogshead is nominally 300 l ± 2.5 l. and some may not find that precise enough

        Actually, I do not think that I have used the measurement of gallon (imp) for at least 30 years, except as part of the “miles-per-gallon” measurement.
        I suspect that I am not alone.

    • Oh! Matron! says:
      16 Dec16 December 11:40

      I think this should be quoted in cubic furlongs.

      But yes, unless you’re a daily mail or express reader, this should be in litres.

      • Oh! Matron! says:
        16 Dec16 December 11:42

        Whilst we are at it, what’s with the “feet” too? We’ve been metric since 1965.

        • QFFlyer says:
          16 Dec16 December 14:16

          Except when it comes to roads, which are designed in metric (now) and signed in imperial (by law). Which is why a standard precast concrete kerb is 914mm long…

      • Bagoly says:
        16 Dec16 December 17:05

        In American, it would be 0.81 acre feet, although admittedly that doesn’t sound so impressive.
        1000 tonnes is an alternative.

        • Tim says:
          18 Dec18 December 10:48

          1000 tonnes is perhaps more relevent than litres when thinking about how and why it exploded

      • David says:
        17 Dec17 December 10:41

        Large volumes are often quotes in cubic metres rather than litres, which also has the benefit that 1m3 of water weighs about 1 tonne.

        So instead of saying over a million, you could say over a thousand cubic metres… But smaller numbers don’t sound as impressive

  • dst87 says:
    16 Dec16 December 10:29

    “More than 100 fire fighters were in attendance at the incident in Berlin on Friday morning”

    You’d think any fires might have taken care of themselves!

    Joking aside, it’s remarkable only two people were injured in the incident.

  • Alex M says:
    16 Dec16 December 10:33

    Can we expect some good deals at the hotel any time soon? 😉

  • _aDifferentSimon_ says:
    16 Dec16 December 10:57

    the bbc article now says
    Clarification: An earlier version said the aquarium was operated by SeaLife. Although the aquarium is in the same building complex as Berlin SeaLife, they are not responsible for the AquaDom

    • Super Secret Stuff says:
      16 Dec16 December 13:57

      If it was right next to an aquarium, where was the planning to try and save fish If something went wrong?! I know its a slim chance of survival, but they could’ve tried

      • The Savage Squirrel says:
        16 Dec16 December 14:29

        Dude! It looks like a bomb scene! In the immediate shocking aftermath it would have been unclear how many people were perhaps critically injured and undiscovered, whether this was a terrorist attack etc etc. When people might be dying, fish are quite rightly a VERY low priority…

        • Super Secret Stuff says:
          16 Dec16 December 19:46

          It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out glass cracks, it’s cold outside and when some bright spark turns down the heating to save gas or electricity, you probably want to empty the tank and remove the fish.

          Also, it wouldn’t take that long to figure out its an accident, surely? Then move on to save the fish

      • Bagoly says:
        16 Dec16 December 17:13

        Risk Management tactics are: Eliminate, Manage, or Mitigate.
        And then there’s putting a huge amount of water above ground inside a building – that’s called Wanton Risk Accumulation.

  • Peter W-G says:
    16 Dec16 December 10:58

    BBC News has a clarification: An earlier version said the aquarium was operated by SeaLife. Although the aquarium is in the same building complex as Berlin SeaLife, they are not responsible for the AquaDom

  • Andrew. says:
    16 Dec16 December 11:06

    Happened to my in-laws neighbours too, although his was just 100,000 litres.

    https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/taxi-tycoon-sues-fish-tank-makers-after-6m-flood-in-gleneagles-mansion/

    • FEMW says:
      16 Dec16 December 11:26

      I was just thinking about this house when I read about the Berlin one. I didn’t know the same thing happened at the house overlooking the Queens course! (I live down the road in Aucht!)

    • Steve says:
      16 Dec16 December 11:38

      Stevie Malcolm? At least we now know who ate all the pies

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