Chinese tourist glass bridge gets closed after cracks appear

Beijing: Tourism officials have closed a newly opened glass walkway in a central China scenic spot after cracks appeared in the structure at the height of the weeklong National Day holiday. The glass walkway in Henan province's Yuntaishan scenic area had been supporting dozens of tourists on Monday when the cracks appeared with a loud bang. A single pane of the 68 meter (223 foot) long section shattered into coin-sized segments, according to footage on state broadcaster CCTV.

The area's management bureau said on its microblog Thursday that there was no threat to safety because only one of the three layers of glass that make up the walkway was damaged. It said investigators were looking into the cause of the fissures and added that the walkway is able to support weights of more than 800 kilograms per square meter (175 pounds per square foot).

Postings to China's Twitter-like Weibo messaging service described the fears of tourists who heard the panel crack, but there were no indications of mass panic or injuries.

The structure hugs a cliff side roughly 120 meters (394 feet) above a canyon in the remote mountain areas renowned for its scenery. It opened on Sept. 20, just in time for China's weeklong Oct. 1 National Day holiday.

A glass walkway above London's famed Tower Bridge suffered a similar accident in November after a falling bottle shattered the topmost layer of one of its panes that was designed to be easily replaceable if damaged.

Such walkways have grown popular in China as scenic areas compete to attract increasingly affluent Chinese tourists.