Flash

'Small break' in aquarium at Dubai's biggest mall

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-02-25 21:30

Visitors looks up as fish swim in the aquarium tunnel in Dubai Mall, which covers the area of 50 soccer pitches, November 4, 2008. [Agencies]

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: A large section of the Middle East's biggest shopping mall has been shut as maintenance crews scramble to contain a leak Thursday at the massive, shark-filled aquarium there.

An official at Dubai's civil defense department said "there has been a small break in the glass," and that rescue crews are on the scene. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the operation was ongoing.

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear, because much of the area around the aquarium has been cordoned off and is being evacuated. Three mall security employees were seen entering the area wearing orange life jackets.

Mall owner Emaar Properties, which is also the developer of the world's tallest tower next door, did not respond to a request for comment.

An employee working for the offsite ticket office, Samia al-Rajaby, said by phone that the aquarium was being closed for the day as maintenance crews work. She said she was aware of a problem at the aquarium but had no further details.

An eyewitness who works in one of the jewelry stores in the mall said he was escorted out of the area that was closed off.

"I heard there was a small crack in the aquarium," the witness said. He declined to give his name because he did not want jeopardize his job by speaking to the media.

He said shopkeepers were told to close their business for fear of water flooding the mall's marble floors while the aquarium is repaired. Other shopkeepers were seen being escorted out of the area by mall security.

The Dubai Mall and its signature aquarium opened in November 2008.

The shark, stingray and fish-filled tank is located on the mall's ground floor, next to upscale clothing shops and not far from an Olympic-sized ice-skating rink and the only international branch of high-end retailer Bloomingdale's.

The aquarium boasts the world's largest acrylic viewing panel, which is nearly 2-1/2 feet (750 millimeters) thick.

Mall owner Emaar is also the builder of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower that early opened last month. It has since been closed to the public following a problem with the elevators used to ferry visitors to its 124th-story observation deck.

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