Woman with child in lap drives into fish tank at
Tampa airport
10-11-2009 By JOSH POLTILOVE The Tampa Tribune, USA
TAMPA - The 30 to 40 saltwater fish in a tank at Tampa International Airport's blue arrival area are dead or expected to die after a vehicle crashed into the fish exhibit Monday night, a Florida Aquarium spokesman said today.
The damage left after a car hit a fish tank Monday night at Tampa International Airport.
The 1,500-gallon tank, worth between $50,000 and $100,000, broke following the crash, said Tom Wagner of The Florida Aquarium. More than a dozen species, including clownfish, angelfish and blue tang had lived in the tank; more than 90 percent are dead.
"It's unlikely that any of the animals will survive," Wagner said.
The fish were worth $3,000 to $5,000, he said.
Yamile Campuzano-Martine, 36, had an unrestrained 6-year-old in her lap and lost control of her 1994 Ford Ranger, which jumped a curb and crashed into the tank at about 9:20 p.m., airport spokeswoman Brenda Geoghagan said.
Tampa Fire Rescue attended to Campuzano-Martine and the two children in the Ford. The child who had been on Campuzano-Martine's lap had a knot on the right side of his forehead, but Campuzano-Martine, who was at the airport to pick up a relative, declined to have him taken to a hospital, Geoghagan said.
No one in the airport was injured.
Campuzano-Martine was cited for careless driving, failure to use a child restraint device and failure to provide a driver's license, Geoghagan said.
Twenty minutes after the crash, water had drained from the tank. Water spilled onto the sidewalk, roadway and interior carpet.
Airport employees gathered some of the water and fish in a bucket, Wagner said. The aquarium was trying to save the survivors.
The blue side Marine Exhibit is part of the airport's El Movimiento del Mar public art program, which began in June 1999 as a partnership between the airport, local artists, Sarasota and the aquarium. The airport spent $200,000 on the exhibit, which included the 12-foot tank.
The aquarium provided the sea life and fish, maintaining the tank and feeding the fish.
After determining how much of the tank can be salvaged, aquarium and airport staffers will evaluate what to do with the area, Wagner said.
Another tank remains in the red arrival area.
(Bron: http://www2.tbo.com/)
(Bron foto: Tampa Tribune)
































