Sharks escape into Shanghai mall after tank explodes

Dozens of animals are dead and at least 15 people are injured following the sudden explosion of an aquarium containing live sharks at a shopping mall in China.

A security camera (video below) captured the chaotic moment inside the Shanghai Oriental Shopping Center on Dec. 18. Injuries included cuts from broken glass and a broken ankle, reports the China Daily.

According to the BBC, three lemon sharks and dozens of turtles and small fish were killed when the 33-ton tank ruptured.

"It was horrible, like a bomb explosion. Some pedestrians were pushed two meters away by the force of the water," a shoe vendor at the mall tells the China Daily.

The aquarium was built only two years ago, but some have posited that shoddy materials -- combined with cold temperatures in Shanghai -- contributed to its collapse.  

This isn't the first incident for the aquarium, though: A broken pipe in June reportedly led to the death of three sharks in the display.