On Jan. 19, a steamboat gathering in Singapore ended in a hospital trip when the dining table "exploded".

Host and homeowner Stephanie Chu reportedly suffered second degree burns, and her friends and husband were injured as well.

Parts of the house were also damaged from the explosion of glass.

In her Facebook post, Chu announced that she will be contacting the furniture company for compensation, a sum that should include the party's medical bills.

Furniture company responds

Comfort Design, the company that sold Chu the glass table, has responded with their sympathies for the couple and their friends in a media statement to Mothership.

They then went on to explain how tempered glass is different, and safer, from regular glass.

Comfort Design also surmised that the cuts sustained by the diners were caused by cutlery, and not the table itself.

Consequently, a large part of their statement was dedicated to proper use of the table, as the company believed that the accident was the result of "inappropriate equipment" being used on glass.

Here's their explanation of how the hotpot caused the table to shatter:

"When high temperature is applied to glass and the bending stresses exceed the strength of the glass, the glass may break. This is also known as thermal stress. Hotpot equipment should not be used directly on tempered glass tables as glass is a bad conductor of heat. Glass is not designed to withstand high temperature."

Therefore, they company adds, it is not recommended that customers have hotpot or steamboat on glass tables.

They advised that coasters and other insulating materials are used with hot kitchenware.

Agreement not reached on compensation

On matters of compensation, Comfort Design said that an agreement could not be reached on the sum.

While Comfort Design has discussed the matter with Chu's husband, the company has rejected bearing the full monetary expense of the damage caused by the exploded table.

They believe that the product is "not to be blamed", as it was misused.

You can read their statement in full here:

"Firstly, we'd like to extend our sympathy to Stephanie, her husband and their guests on the unfortunate incident that has happened. We were notified of the incident via a phone call yesterday, Monday 20 Jan 2020. 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. This is also known as thermal stress. Hotpot equipment should not be used directly on tempered glass tables as glass is a bad conductor of heat. Glass is not designed to withstand high temperature. This is the first time we've had glass shatter issues due to the use of hotpot equipment. 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. Our company is empathetic of their situation and would like to assist them during this time of inconvenience, however, we would like to uphold our position where we think that our company and our product is not to be blamed for the accident as it was not used within its intended scope of use. Glass or tempered glass is a hard but also fragile material. It's been used in furniture and other household items for many years hence it's not a new material or resource. We'd like to educate the public that glass is not meant for use with hotpot equipment, which is the same reason why glass tables are not a choice material in hotpot restaurants. Moving away from hotpot equipment, we recommend that coasters (that are well designed for its intended use) or insulating materials be placed when hot cutlery/kitchen utensils are placed on tables. This will help protect and prolong the lifespan of the furniture."

Top image via Stephanie Chu on Facebook

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