9 Chinese tourists hurt as ceiling decoration crashes down at Mount Huashan visitor centre
Tourist attraction was packed with day trippers when huge fitting crashed down on people riding escalators
At least nine people were injured at the weekend when a ceiling decoration at a popular tourist attraction in northwestern China collapsed on top of them.
The incident happened about 5.30pm on Saturday in the dining area of the Mount Huashan visitor centre in Weinan, Shaanxi province. The huge decoration came crashing down onto two escalators filled with people, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Video footage showed the terrified tourists trying to jump out of the way of the falling debris, although the speed at which it fell meant few were able to.
Others are later seen trying to free victims from under the broken decoration, which was estimated to be about 30 square metres in size, the report said.
As of Tuesday morning, six of the nine people hurt had been discharged from hospital, while the three others were being treated for minor injuries, mainland news website Thepaper.cn reported.
A witness was quoted as saying he heard someone scream just moments before the ceiling collapsed.