Story By: Alex Cope, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report 

These images show how guests at a dinner party were left bleeding and covered in gaping cuts after the tempered glass table they were eating at “exploded”.

Local media report Facebook user ‘Stephani Chu’ said her tempered glass table shattered as she was having a hotpot dinner with her friends in the city-state of Singapore.

Chu had reportedly placed the hotpot of boiling broth onto the table when 30 minutes into the dinner the tempered glass “exploded”.

She said glass was sent “flying everywhere” and added: “After the incident happened, all of us sat there in shock, and we couldn’t do anything as there were glass shards and hot soup everywhere.”

Images show food and what appears to be blood all over the floor of their flat along with shards of glass. The cuts some of the victims suffered can also be seen.

She says they immediately called an ambulance as all her guests were injured “some with cuts bigger than the size of an eye” and she was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital for treatment to second-degree burns.

She said she had “contacted the furniture company to ask for their course of compensation” but that the manager had said they could only replace the tabletop with a new laminated surface.

The user said she had been looking for “some responsibility on the company’s end… to cover the medical bills and repair costs”.

The company, named in reports as Comfort Design Furniture, told local media outlet ‘Stomp’ that they sympathised with Stephanie and her guests.

They added: “Our table is made using tempered glass, which is a type of safety glass with increased strength as compared to regular, untreated glass.

“Tempered glass is considered safe because should the glass shatter, it’ll break into granular chunks instead of sharp pieces which may cause cuts. The cuts that were seen in the pictures were, chances are, caused by the broken cutlery. We believe the accident was the result of inappropriate equipment being used on glass.

“When high temperature is applied to glass and the bending stresses exceed the strength of the glass, the glass may break.”

The company went on: “Our company did discuss compensation with Mr. Low (Stephanie’s husband) yesterday, which also included monetary compensation.

“However, the sum could not be agreed upon as Mr. Low would like us to bear the full extent of their damage.”

They said people should take note that hotpot equipment should not be used on tempered glass.