Chinese boy lifted four metres into air as mini tornado hits school sports day

A primary school student in northern China survived with only minor injuries after being swept up to four metres into the air by a mini tornado while competing alongside other students during his school’s sports day, mainland media reports.

Li Jiaqi, a Grade Three primary school student from Guazhou county, in northwestern Gansu province, was lifted up above the sports field in front of his classmates on Wednesday, the online news portal Chinayouth.com reported.

The mini tornado caused chaos as it struck the packed sports field at around 4pm as hundreds of pupils were taking part in sports day events organised by the school.

A photograph taken by a witness shows the slim figure of Li as he is lifted about four metres above the crowd, many of whom were looking at the boy.