Operation ended after burst water pipe in Berlin-Siemensstadt

Washed-out streets, full cellars, an evacuated house: the operation to deal with a broken water pipe in Berlin-Siemensstadt was ended after 21 hours. 142 fire brigade personnel were deployed to, among other things, pump out cellars and close a gas pipe. At 10:53 p.m. on Tuesday evening, the site was under control and was handed over to the water company, as the fire department announced.

A spokeswoman for Berliner Wasserbetriebe said that the reason why the water escaped was still being investigated. Information on the extent of the damage was not initially available.

The night before, more than a million liters of water leaked from the Wernerwerkdamm over several hours. According to the fire department, this affected an industrial building and 14 cellars, where the water was partly up to the cellar ceiling. Statistical engineers and the responsible building authority checked the safety of the affected buildings, it was said. They therefore came to the conclusion that they were not in danger of collapsing.

Electricity and water partially interrupted - house evacuated

A five-story residential building on Hefnersteig was declared uninhabitable and was then evacuated. Those who could not stay with friends or relatives were accommodated by the district office in a nearby hotel, the fire department said. The other residents were able to stay in their houses.

Due to the situation, electricity and water supplies were temporarily interrupted in several streets. According to the fire department, 1,200 residents were affected. According to a spokeswoman for the water company, only the industrial building on Warnwerkdamm, where the water escaped, still has neither electricity nor water.

Gas supplier had to dig access to the line

Because a factory entrance gate was washed out and threatened to collapse, a gas pipe had to be squeezed under the gate. According to the fire department, this took a long time because the gas supplier had to dig access to the line. Because of the danger that gas could leak, a exclusion zone was set up, which was lifted late in the evening.