An aquarium in Berlin that was home to around 1,500 exotic fish burst early this morning, spilling one million litres of water and debris onto a major road in the busy Mitte district, emergency services said.
Berlin police said on Twitter that as well as causing "incredible maritime damage", the incident left two people suffering injuries from glass shards.
The incident at the AquaDom aquarium happened at around 5.50am, a police spokeswoman told AFP.
The cylindrical aquarium was located in the foyer of a Radisson Blu hotel and had a clear-walled elevator built inside to be used by visitors to the Sea Life leisure complex.
More than 100 emergency workers were at the scene, Berlin's firefighting service tweeted.
"The aquarium is damaged, water is leaking out. The situation is unclear at the moment," it added.
Berlin police on Twitter urged drivers to avoid the area, warning that water is "massively" leaking from the aquarium.
The nearby Karl-Liebknecht street has been partially closed off because there is "an extreme amount of water on the road", Berlin's public transport office said, also on Twitter.
According to the Sea Life website, the AquaDom is the largest cylindrical, freestanding aquarium in the world.
A spokesperson for the Berlin fire brigade said emergency responders had been unable to access the ground floor of the building due to the debris.
Search and rescue dogs were being sent to the scene, he added.
The spokesperson said it was still unclear what had caused the aquarium to burst. Neither the fire brigade nor the police commented on the fate of the fish.
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Around 350 people who had been staying at the hotel in the complex were asked to pack their belongings and leave the building, the spokesperson added.
Buses were sent to the complex to provide shelter for people leaving the hotel as outside temperatures in Berlin were around -7 degrees Celsius, police said.
