A Burnaby woman is injured after a ramp at a popular floating restaurant in Richmond gave way, sending the family sliding toward the water.

The ramp toward Pajo's Fish and Chips collapsed Sunday, something Tina Zanotto called "one of the most horrifying experiences I've ever been in."

Zanotto was near the top, with her husband and daughter, when the bridge suddenly gave out.

"All of a sudden we hear this huge cracking sound and we stopped in our tracks, but before we could say or do anything we started sliding down," she told CTV News the next day.

Zanotto was injured, but said that when paramedics arrived, there was initially no way for them to get to the restaurant. She was eventually helped back up to the boardwalk and taken to hospital.

She said she's bruised and shaken. All three members of the family say they sustained minor injuries, they said.

Following the incident, Zanotto said she wonders when the ramp was last examined: "How can it buckle like that?"

"It's terrible. Something like that should never happen," her husband Franco said.

Staff from the restaurant told CTV that the cause of the collapse was under investigation, and there's no word yet on when the restaurant – which has been at the site for 30 years – will reopen.

In a statement, Pajo's said, "Our thoughts are with those injured and we wish them a speedy recovery. We want to thank our staff, patrons and local first responders for their quick response in assisting those who were on the ramp at the time."

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber