This photo taken on Oct. 5, shows people standing by a cracked glass tile on a glass-bottomed walkway in Yuntaishan in Jiaozuo, central China's Henan province.(Photo: STR, AFP/Getty Images)
A newly opened glass walkway, suspended 3,500 feet above a canyon in central China, cracked on Monday to the terror of thrill-seeking tourists.
The 1,300-foot-long glass bottom walkway is built along Yuntai Mountain Scenic Park in Henan Province, China.
The walkway is currently closed for repairs after a panel of glass along the walkway fractured, China's
People Daily Online reported.
The incident was caused by a sharp object falling on the glass, according to a statement from Yuntai Mountain Tourism Administration. The bridge is made of three planes of tempered glass, and only the top pane was cracked, according to the association.
According to the outlet, a park official said the fractured glass "does not affect safety," though tourists and many on social media disagreed. On Weibo, often called "Chinese Twitter," many said park officials were down playing the severity of the incident.
"
Yuntaishan glass broken plankfloor not a serious break? ... What ... an international joke," a man wrote. Another
said "people risked their lives" to travel to the bridge.
Officials noted that similar incidents have happened in other glass-bottom structures,
like London's Tower Bridge and
Chicago's Willis Tower.
Glass bottom structures have grown increasingly popular in China, though many tourists may be rethinking their journey across glass bridges after Monday's incident.
Another glass-bottom bridge in the Shiniuzhai National Geological Park opened last week. The Haohan Qiao bridge, which means "brave men's bridge" in English, is a mere 590-feet-off the ground. Another glass-bottom bridge is set to open in the
Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon area,
CNN reported.
The incident happened during one of the busiest tourist events of the year, according to
People's Daily Online. Millions of tourists made trips around the country to celebrate China's week-long National Day getaway.
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