HUBEI: A 30-year-old man was blown from his 12th-floor apartment after twin tornadoes tore through parts of China’s Hubei province on Monday (Jul 6), one of several harrowing accounts to emerge from a disaster that has killed 11 people and injured 331.
The man, surnamed Zhang, was swept out of his apartment in Huanggang city and fell onto bushes below the building, his family told local media. Huanggang was among the worst-hit areas as winds of up to 149kmh ripped through homes and neighbourhoods.
The strong winds shattered the apartment’s floor-to-ceiling windows, and sent furniture and household items flying out of the home.
Zhang was found unconscious beneath the apartment building by his cousin, surnamed Liu, who lived on the 20th floor. The cousin had decided to check on Zhang and his family after noticing that a neighbour’s window had been damaged by the strong winds.
While knocking on the door, he heard Zhang’s wife crying out that her husband had fallen out of the building. Liu immediately ran downstairs to search for Zhang.
“When I found him, he was already unconscious, with only faint breathing,” Liu told Hunan-based news outlet Xiaoxiang Morning Herald.
Zhang was later taken to hospital for emergency treatment and remains in a coma.
According to the report, Zhang’s wife and their one-year-old baby had been trapped in the bedroom when the storm struck. After it subsided, she searched the apartment but could not find her husband.
“I was extremely anxious,” she said. “I saw people in the building opposite, so I kept shouting for help and begging them to help me look for my husband, but no one responded.”
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