The news that US Speaker Nancy Pelosi was heading to Taiwan caused parts of the internet to boil over.
The website Flightradar24, where curious people could follow Pelosi's plane's journey, received so many visitors on Tuesday afternoon that access to the site was forced to be restricted.
”"Unfortunately, the number of visitors meant that we had to introduce our waiting room system," states the company behind the site, referring to unprecedented interest.
In total, over 700,000 visitors are said to have tried to reach the site and many of them were met by stationary aircraft.
Interest in the flight came when rumors about Pelosi's destination spread and many wanted to see if she would really be heading to Taiwan, a trip the United States had not made public.
Those who accessed the site could see that the plane, marked Spar19, left the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and then circled the Philippines before heading towards Taiwan.
When it flew over the island and finally landed in Taipei, the rumor seemed to be true – and shortly after landing, Pelosi also stepped off the plane.
By that time, interest in Flightradar24 had cooled, and the site returned to normal visitor numbers, the company writes.
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, is the highest-ranking American politician to visit Taiwan in 25 years, and the visit has led to threats from China.
Source:TT-Aftonbladet.se
