GLASS FLOOR CRACKS Terror on mountain walkway

Posted on 10/07/2015 | About China

A group of Chinese tourists were screaming in terror yesterday on the side of a 3,540 ft high cliff after a glass pane on a new transparent walkway suddenly shattered.
A visitor posted pictures of what she claimed was the cracked glass on Chinese social media. She said she could feel the shake under her feet the moment when the glass broke, reported People's Daily Online. The U-shaped platform is attached to a cliff face on Yuntai Mountain, Henan Province, and opened to the public on September 20. Authorities have confirmed the incident and closed the tourist attraction for repair works. A female tourist, shared her experience of the terror on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, after she left the 853-foot-long platform.

She said she heard a “sudden bang and felt a shake under my feet.” Looking down she saw the glass floor had shattered. People were screaming she said and she pushed the people ahead of her to leave. Yuntai Mountain's glass skywalk opened just last month. A spokesman at the Yuntai Mountain Scenic Spot confirmed that a piece of glass had indeed broken on the walkway; the management had evacuated tourists and closed the passage for further notice.

The spokesman said the cracks occurred after a tourist dropped a stainless steel mug on the walkway. However, he said only one out of the three layers of glass broke, so the tourists were not in danger. The incident happened during China's week-long National Day holiday when 532 million people are expected to make domestic trips. Management at the Yuntai Mountain Scenic Spot released a statement today through People's Daily Online.

The statement said their staff noticed a few cracks near the exit of the glass-bottomed platform during regular checks, and due to safety concerns, a decision has been made to close the platform. The document confirmed the cracks were caused by the impact of a sharp object, but it stressed that the floor of the platform is made with three layers of toughened glass, so the incident did not affect its safety. Glass-bottomed walkways have become incredibly popular for Chinese thrill-seekers.

The see-through platform on Yuntai Mountain opened to the public on September 20. According to its press release, 223 feet out of the 853-foot-long platform is paved with three layers of one-inch-thick glass panes, which is expected to bear the weight of at least 800 kilograms.