A small aircraft appeared to have struck CITIC Tower, the tallest building in China's capital, on June 26 afternoon, in a dramatic incident in one of the world's most heavily secured cities.


Videos circulating on social media showed debris falling from the 109-story skyscraper, also known as China Zun, along with what appeared to be the aircraft's tail section. Images from the scene also showed a taxicab with a shattered window near the building, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.


A journalist at the scene reported seeing people evacuated from the tower gathered on streets near the entrance, while fire trucks, police vehicles and an ambulance responded to the incident.


Online images showing the aircraft's registration markings appeared to identify it as a Sunward SA 60L Aurora, a domestically manufactured light sport aircraft operated by a local general aviation company.


Unverified flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 circulating online appeared to indicate that the aircraft had followed a severely deviated flight



By Vafa Guliyeva