Killer Winds Cause Havoc Throughout Beijing

The winds that brought in the sandstorm attack earlier this week that caused PM10 levels to spike over 2,000 are now responsible for causing a swath of destruction and chaos throughout Beijing that is being blamed for at least one death.

The Beijing Evening Report is advised all city residents to remain indoors after reporting a pedestrian in the city's Haidian District on Zhichun Road was killed when an object blown off a roof had struck his head.

In another incident, a dashcam video shows the strong winds tearing off the awning off a storefront and violently blowing it onto an electric scooter rider on the street (shown below).

Numerous reports of fallen trees have been cited throughout the city, such as the one that fell on a taxi on the northern stretch of the Third Ring Road during rush hour.

Elsewhere, the fallen trees blocked city roads, causing traffic congestion .

The strong winds are also responsible for property damage, like when it was seen tearing off the facade of an apartment building (shown below).

Especially affected by the strong winds are the city's ubiquitous three-wheeled electic scooters.

The wind is so strong that not only is it blowing away the city's garbage recepticles, but one video shows it lifting a row of shared bikes up off the ground (shown below):

A yellow alert for wind gales was issued for Beijing on Thursday afternoon, signifying that wind gusts could attain speeds of up to around 87 kilometers per hour (55 miles per hour). As of 10am Friday morning, the local meterologocial gureau reported that 169 of the city's weather stations have recorded gusts nearly reaching a top speed of 58 kilometers per hour.

According to the weather report, the strongs winds subsided by Friday evening.

To see how large the sandstorm is, click "Read more" to see a video that shows an enormous dust cloud looming over a Beijing suburb.

Images: Weibo

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