中国

It was recently reported in the Chinese media that the window of a bus traversing the streets of Wuhan Province suddenly exploded while the vehicle was in motion. One of the left-hand side windows is thought to have shattered without warning, terrifying the passengers on board at the time.

Through a stroke of luck, a couple that was sitting right next to the exploding window managed to avoid any injuries. The driver is reported to have been in complete shock and couldn’t believe what had happened.

Those on board who witnessed the bizarre phenomenon were quick to post news of the story on the net. One passenger commented:

“Everyone was naturally in shock at the events that unfolded before them. There were no collisions or anything to suggest something had hit the vehicle. The window appears to have exploded by itself. It looks like the glass couldn’t deal with the high temperatures.”

A spokesman for the bus company suggested that windows exploding by themselves was unusual to say the least and commented,

“This year (2013) is the first time we’ve heard of such an incident.”

As to the exact cause of the spontaneously shattering window, experts believe that the heat from sunlight built up in the glass, which caused it to swell and eventually give way. Looking at the structure of the glass used, it is thought that the probability of the glass suddenly exploding to be around 0.2-0.5 percent.

It’s fair to say that this type of incident is something most of us are unlikely to experience. Even so, it’s only when this kind of thing happens that it dawns on us that it actually could!

Source: Niconico News
Header image: media.npr.org