Summary
- Witnesses described the aircraft as “about the size of a car” and said the impact was louder than fireworks.
- One courier said he rushed to the scene after hearing the crash and initially filmed the wreckage before deleting the video.
- Another said he saw unverified social media images showing debris on a nearby road.
A small aircraft crashed into Beijing’s tallest building, the 108-storey CITIC Tower, on Friday evening, eyewitnesses told Reuters.
The skyscraper, also known as China Zun, houses the headquarters of state-owned CITIC Group in the city’s central business district. Witnesses described the aircraft as “about the size of a car” and said the impact was louder than fireworks.
Police quickly sealed off surrounding roads, deployed dozens of patrol cars and fire trucks, and prevented bystanders from filming. Some people were asked to delete images they had taken. Two glass panels on a high floor were reported damaged.
One courier said he rushed to the scene after hearing the crash and initially filmed the wreckage before deleting the video. Another said he saw unverified social media images showing debris on a nearby road.
There has been no official comment yet from Beijing’s municipal government.
The incident recalls past aviation tragedies in China, including the 2022 crash of a China Eastern passenger jet that killed 132 people after plummeting thousands of metres in minutes.
