Small aircraft crashes into Beijing’s tallest building

BEIJING, June 26 (Reuters) - An aircraft about the size of a car crashed ​into Beijing's tallest building on Friday, witnesses told Reuters, with police closing off roads around the ‌skyscraper and authorities giving no information about the incident.

The 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.

There was a heavy police presence at the site, with ​some approach roads closed to cars.

Two glass panels on a high floor were damaged. There was no immediate ​official comment or response to a request for information sent to the city government outside ⁠business hours.

A courier standing among people who had gathered near the building said he had rushed over to CITIC ​Tower around 6 p.m. local time (1000 GMT) from a nearby location after hearing a loud crash as an aircraft ​about the size of a car hit it.

Another courier said he ‌had come ⁠to the scene after seeing unverified social media images showing the wreckage of a small aircraft on a road next to the building.

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, or Red Note, returned only posts dated Thursday.

An office worker in a ​nearby building said she saw ​a blue tarp over ⁠a large object on the road at the side of the building the size of a VW Beetle from her office window at around 6:45 p.m.