Glass door shatters; latest in rash of cases

A rotating glass door in a downtown office building suddenly "exploded" into thousands of pieces yesterday, but no one was hurt.

A white-collar worker surnamed Liu was entering the building through the door about 9am when the glass suddenly shattered. Despite being hit by the broken glass pieces all over his body, Liu was not injured.

The three-paneled glass door was at the southern entrance to the K.Wah Center on Huaihai Road M. One glass panel, covering about 3 square meters, shattered for unknown reasons.

"Poor quality, improper design or installation or maintenance of the glass door and the scorching weather are all possible causes for the incident," said Lu Jinlong of the Shanghai Research Institute of Building Sciences.

Similar glass "explosions" or glass "bombs" falling off sides of high-rises have occurred frequently in the city during the past weeks, prompting concerns about the glass materials' safety. A piece of glass on the 38th floor in the Shanghai International Finance Center broke into pieces on Wednesday.

An officer worker in the tower said this is at least the fourth time that glass has shattered in the building in the past six months.

Meanwhile, a piece of glass in the One Lujiazui office tower broke on Monday, two months after a glass-shattering incident there damaged dozens of cars.

A glass platform barrier in Metro Line 10 suddenly exploded on Tuesday. An identical shield also shattered in Metro Line 11 on July 14.

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