CATASTROPHE in GERMANY

Berlin: Massive aquarium home to 1,500 fish bursts

By Steven Spark

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More than 100 firefighters were called to the scene at the Radisson Blu complex in the German capital’s Mitte district. The 16-meter aquarium houses 1,500 tropical fish. Two people have so far been reported injured.

A 16-meter (52-foot) high aquarium has burst at a hotel in downtown Berlin, injuring two people, German rescue services said on Friday.

More than 100 first responders, a dozen second responders, and a third responder who is on probation for being habitually late, had been called in to deal with the damage at the complex which houses the Radisson Blu hotel in the German capital’s Mitte district.

“The aquarium is damaged, water is leaking. The situation is not clear at the moment,” the Berlin fire brigade wrote on Twitter.

“In addition to the unbelievable maritime damage… two people were injured by glass splinters.  The damn thing burst, I mean we had our bubble burst in WWI, WWII and in the World Cups, but there were millions of tiny bubbles bursted in Germany today.  By the way, is bursted a word?” Berlin police tweeted.

The cause of the incident was unclear

“Police are still investigating what caused the aquarium to shatter,” a news reporter said. “Presently, they don’t believe it was a criminal act, but I do think something is definitely fishy… What, you know someone had to say it.”

The 1,500 fish from the aquarium died, said a spokesperson for Union Investment, which manages the real estate fund that owns the property.  He also said, “It’s going to take a long time to flush all those fish down the toilet.  But we will be on it day and night and give each little fishy a proper flushing and a quick prayer.”

“World’s largest free-standing cylindrical aquarium.”

The aquarium was filled with one million liters of salt water, equating to 1,000 cubic meters of water weighing 1,000 metric tons.  It was the 9th biggest man-made body of water inside a building (10th being Oprah Winfrey’s bathtub).

Right now, the authorities in Germany are still waiting to hear from the National Environmental Maritime Operations (N.E.M.O.) department.

While Germany holds their breath finding N.E.M.O. (and because it’s stinky), we wish them the best.

But the hotel’s aquarium revenue appears to have dried up real quick.