Three people ‘sucked out of apartment windows as they slept’ amid typhoon-strength winds in China

At least seven people lose their lives in extreme weather in China

Residents pass through rain storm in Nanchang in eastern China’s Jiangxi province Tuesday, 2 April 2024 (Chinatopix via AP)

Three people were reportedly sucked out of their apartments as they slept by typhoon-like winds after violent rain and hailstorms struck southeastern China.

At least seven people lost their lives in the extreme weather, which began on 31 March and engulfed nine cities including Nanchang and Jiujiang with 93,000 people in 54 counties affected, the Jiangxi provincial emergency flood control headquarters said.

The three people, including an 11-year-old boy, reportedly fell to their deaths on Sunday from a single residential high-rise building during the storm. The winds ripped door-size windows off frames in two apartments in the building in Nanchang.

The residents were pulled from their beds through the holes, plunging to their deaths, according to local media reports. Dozens of homes were also severely damaged, according to the Associated Press.

The storms started on Sunday and continued into Tuesday. Authorities were investigating the circumstances surrounding the fall of the three victims.

A man named Xu, who resides on the 20th floor of the building, told the South China Morning Post that the wind swept his 64-year-old mother and 11-year-old son out of the flat by blowing out all the living room and bedroom windows.

The third victim was a 60-year-old woman whose husband, named Wan, said she was ripped out from their 11th floor bedroom window. The man said he survived as he slept in a room that remained undamaged by the storm.

Following a frantic search throughout the house, Wan eventually discovered that a floor-to-ceiling room window had been completely blown out.

In a viral video, his wife’s bed was shown next to a glassless window. Details regarding how his wife was swept out of the building remain unclear but Wan later found her body at the base of the building.

“I am totally at a loss,” he said.

The complete evaluation of the damage is still underway.