Watch Shark Aquarium Explode In Shanghai Shopping Mall

The Shanghai shopping mall aquarium in happier times.
Photo: Copyright © Achim Fischer, Creative Commons

Dec. 27, 2012 - Amazing videos (below) shows a 33.5 ton aquarium as is bursts in the front of a  pedestrian mall on Nanjing Road E. in Shanghai, China on Dec. 18. The animals in the tank included turtles, various fish and sharks. Sixteen people were hurt in the sudden explosion of acrylic, water and sea life. The aquarium explosion was captured by a closed circuit (CC) televsion camera. Shanghai officials believe the shattering was caused by air temperatures that made the aquarium's material "brittle" (details below first video, below).

"Three lemon sharks and dozens of turtles and small fish were killed in the incident," reports BBC News, and the "explosion destroyed a nearby cosmetics counter where one worker had to be pulled to safety."

"One male customer, in his 30s, was hit by [acrylic] and had broken bones in his leg. Others had cuts and bruises," reports Shanghai Daily.  "Three sharks raised inside the 7-meter-long, 3-meter-high aquarium, on the first floor of the Orient Shopping Center, died in the incident about 7:50pm." Shanghai Daily also noted that Mr. Chen, an official with the shopping center's management, said that the aquarium was made of acrylic that was about 15 centimeters thick. "We will not build an aquarium again in the future," said Chen.

IBTimes quotes Shen Weizhong, deputy director of the Shanghai Work Safety Administration as saying that, "According to the experts' preliminary determination, the major reason is a rupture of the aquarium [acrylic] under low temperatures after long usage," and that, "The 'brittle' temperature of the aquarium material is 9.2C. The outer side of the aquarium facing the street, especially the upper part above water, is very likely to rupture when the surrounding temperature is lower than 9.2C."

However, UV rays also may have contributed to the aquarium bursting. Shen Weizhong was quoted by Eastday.com as saying, "The wear was mainly caused by ultraviolet radiation and changing temperatures."



Next Video: A report in Chinese.


Next Video: The doomed Shanghai shopping mall aquarium in late 2011.


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