An aircraft roughly the size of a car crashed into Beijing’s tallest building on Friday, according to witnesses, prompting a major police response and road closures around the site, while authorities released no official information about the incident.
The aircraft struck CITIC Tower, also known as China Zun, a 108-storey skyscraper in Beijing’s central business district that serves as the headquarters of the state-owned CITIC Group.
Witnesses said two glass panels on a high floor of the building were damaged. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
A courier who was near the scene told Reuters he rushed to the tower after hearing a loud crash at around 6 p.m. local time, describing the impact as “louder than fireworks.” He said he saw the aircraft lodged in the building.
The witness said he recorded a video of the scene but later deleted it out of fear after police instructed people not to film or photograph the incident.
Police cordoned off roads around the skyscraper, with dozens of police vehicles and several fire trucks deployed, while officers were seen asking bystanders to delete photos and videos and move away from the area.