Shock as freak winds in China kill 3, including a child, by sucking them out of broken high-rise windows as they slept
- Deadly gusts take lives of trio who lived in same residential block
- Man’s frantic search for wife ends in finding her dead at foot of building
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The death of three people in China who were swept up and blown out of the windows of their homes by strong winds has shocked mainland social media.
A series of freakishly strong winds hit Jiangxi province in southern China in the middle of the night of March 31.
A total of four people were killed and at least 10 were injured. Three of the dead, who lived in the same residential building, were ripped from their high-rise flats by the powerful gusts, but it is not clear how the fourth victim was killed.
One of those caught up in the chaos was a man, surnamed Xu, whose flat is on the 20th floor.
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Powerful gusts blow away windows, killing at least 3 in China
He said that the wind swept his 64-year-old mother and 11-year-old son out of the flat after blowing out all the living room and bedroom windows.
The third fatality, a 60-year-old woman, lived on the 11th floor.
Her husband, surnamed Wan, said his wife fell to her death after being sucked out of a broken bedroom window.
Wan survived because the room he was sleeping in that night escaped the damage.
He recalled that he woke up with a startle due to loud noises and rushed into the badly damaged living room to check if everything was alright.
Wan then dashed into his wife’s bedroom.
“I called her name, but there was no response,” he said.
Eventually, after a frantic search of the whole house, Wan discovered that a floor-to-ceiling room window had been blown out completely. He also heard the sound of crying outside.
In a viral video, his wife’s bed is seen next to the glassless window.
Details about how his wife was swept out of the building are unclear, but Wan found her body at the foot of the residential building.
“I am totally at a loss,” he said.
The story has startled, and puzzled, mainland social media.
“Oh my god, this is so horrible,” said one online observer.
Another shocked internet user said: “How can the winds sweep the windows away?”
While a third asked: “What exactly is this residential building made of ?”
An equally puzzled online observer said: “Why is it that the other flats in the building remain intact?”
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