A small aircraft, roughly the size of a car, crashed into Beijing's tallest skyscraper, the CITIC Tower (also known as China Zun), on Friday evening, according to witnesses. Police swiftly closed off surrounding roads and instructed bystanders to delete any footage of the incident. Authorities have not issued any official statement.
Incident Details and Witness Accounts
The 108-storey CITIC Tower, located in Beijing's central business district, serves as the headquarters for the state-owned conglomerate CITIC Group. Witnesses reported hearing a loud crash around 6 p.m. local time (1000 GMT). A courier who rushed to the scene from a nearby location described the sound as louder than fireworks. He captured a video of the aircraft protruding from the building but later deleted it out of fear of police action.
Another courier arrived after seeing unverified social media images of small aircraft wreckage on a road adjacent to the building. Social media posts about the incident were rapidly removed from Chinese platforms, including Xiaohongshu (Red Note), where a search for the building's name on Friday only showed content from Thursday.
Police Response and Restrictions
A heavy police presence was observed at the site, with dozens of police cars and several fire trucks lining nearby roads. Some approach roads were closed to vehicles. Police prevented people from taking photographs and demanded that those who had taken pictures delete them, while ushering onlookers away from the building. Two glass panels on a high floor were damaged.
An office worker in a neighboring building reported seeing a blue tarp covering a large object on the road beside the CITIC Tower around 6:45 p.m. The object was described as being the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. She stated, "I was on my way down to dinner when someone said a plane had crashed into the next building. So we went to look out the window and saw police cars, ambulances and the blue tarp on the road."
Uncertainty and Restricted Airspace
It remains unclear whether the crash was accidental or deliberate. Airspace over downtown Beijing is heavily restricted. A bystander at the scene told Reuters, "It's very strange for a plane to fly into this area." A police officer later ordered Reuters journalists to leave the area. When asked why, the officer replied, "We all know why!"
There was no immediate official comment from the city government, and a request for information sent outside business hours went unanswered.
