A woman in northwestern China forgot to lock her water heater after showering, causing water to leak for hours, turning the entire residential area into an outdoor "ice rink".
According to local media, the woman surnamed Wang posted a video on social media to apologize to residents in the neighborhood in Lanzhou city, Gansu province.
Last night I finished showering and then forgot to turn off the tap of the solar water heater in the house. Water has flowed out of the tub for 9 hours" - she said in the video.
The'ice rink' in the residential area that people saw this morning was caused by me. I'm very sorry. This is my fault," Wang added.
The hot water tank was placed on the roof of the building. After Vuong forgot to lock the tap, water was continuously pumped into the tank before spilling out.
Another video shows water overflowing from the tank, flowing along the wall and then spreading to the road below. Due to cold weather, water stagnates into ice columns clinging to the windows of apartments.
Nighttime temperatures in Lanzhou in mid-January dropped to minus 8 degrees Celsius.
The frozen road was first discovered by Vuong's father. He has a habit of waking up early every morning to exercise.
At about 6 am, my father discovered that the road was covered in ice, while water was still flowing out. Initially, he thought the water was from someone else's house. Not long after, he discovered that the water source was from our house" - Vuong told the media.
After that, the father immediately called Vuong out and asked her and him to shovel the ice on the road, while Vuong's mother had bought all the salt at nearby grocery stores.
Salt has been sold out because of my house. So if people cannot buy salt this morning, I would like to apologize" - Vuong shared.
My father scolded me very harshly because he felt ashamed of my actions," she shared.
Some residential area management staff also participated in helping to clear the ice on the road. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.
The story has attracted much attention on mainland Chinese social networks.
Although she made a mistake, she admitted her mistake and the family handled the consequences in time. I think the residents in the area should forgive her" - a netizen commented.
Another person humorously said: "She'saved' a whole salt field.
