Tuesday, June 12, 2007

360 Cable Car Plunge

The Ngong Ping 360 (a famous Hong Kong tourist attraction) is now officially shut down after yesterday night's accident (Picture by AM730). Everyday, the cable cars all get tested. Yesterday night, during the emergency stop test (after operating hours), a cable car fell down over 50 metres (164 feet) and right next to a support tower. The whole frame was broken and the windows broken. It's the longest cable car route (5.7 km/3.5 miles) in Asia, still, they should've thought more throughly before building it.

A BIT ABOUT THE NGONG PING 360:
The Ngong Ping 360 (opened in mid-September) and has been very unstable for the last few months. It stops very often and strands people for around a hour. I've haven't ridden it yet, but, my teacher says it's frightening when it goes over the river, the cable car goes at a 30° angle above the river, due to the wind (all year round). The accidents might actually not be the design's fault, I suspect some Buddhists to be sabotaging the cable car since they're making the Buddha statue into a money-making tourist attraction. I'm not Buddhist, but if I was, I would be angry.

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