Chinese tourist glass walkway closed after cracks appear

Visitors walk across a glass-bottomed suspension bridge as seen from the air in a scenic zone in Pingjiang county in southern China’s Hunan province Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015. The bridge, 300 meters (984 feet) long and 180 meters (590 feet) above the valley floor, opened to visitors on Thursday for the first time since its conversion from a regular suspension bridge was completed. AP

BEIJING — Tourism officials have closed a newly opened glass bridge in a central China tourism spot after cracks appeared in the structure.

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.

READ: Cracked bridge over canyon alarms Chinese tourists

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.

The bridge 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.