A small aircraft crashed into Beijing’s 108-storey CITIC Tower on Friday, witnesses described damaging glass panels and prompting a heavy police response that sealed nearby roads, restricted filming and cleared the area Related TopicsThe building, known as CITIC Tower or China Zun, is a 108-storey skyscraper in Beijing's central business district. It is the headquarters of the state-owned conglomerate CITIC Group.An aircraft about the size of a car crashed into Beijing's tallest buildingThere ​was a heavy police presence at the site, with some approach roads closed ​to cars. Police prevented some people from taking pictures and asked ⁠others to delete those they had taken while ushering people away from the ​building.Two glass panels on a high floor were damaged. There was no immediate official ​comment. Beijing's municipal government did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment from Reuters outside of business hours.GalleryTwo glass panels on a high floor were damaged (Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)A courier whom Reuters spoke to near the building said he had rushed ​over to CITIC Tower around 6 p.m. local time from a nearby ​location after hearing a loud crash as a aircraft about the size of a car hit ‌the ⁠building."It was so loud – louder than fireworks," he said.(Photo: AP Photo/Han Guan Ng)He said he had shot a video of the aircraft sticking out of the building, but later deleted it because he was scared of getting caught by police.Another courier whom Reuters spoke to said ​he had come to ​the scene after ⁠seeing unverified social media images showing wreckage of a small aircraft on a road next to the building.The building, known as CITIC Tower or China Zun, is a 108-storey skyscraper in Beijing's central business district (Photo: REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)Social media posts of ​the building on Friday were quickly removed from Chinese social ​media. A ⁠search of the building's name on the Xiaohongshu app returned only posts dated Thursday.Dozens of police cars and several fire trucks lined the roads around the building.A police officer ⁠told ​Reuters journalists to depart from the scene. Asked ​why they had to leave, the police officer said: "We all know why!"Comments