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.
Li was then thrown to the ground.
He was rushed to a hospital, but was later found to have suffered only a minor injury to the back of his head, Chinayouth.com reported on Thursday.
Other students were forced to lie flat on the ground to avoid being lifted into the air by the strong swirling winds.
The mini tornado also propelled other lighter objects, including chairs, clothes and students backpacks, up to 12 metres off the ground.
The report did not give further details about how long the mini tornado lasted, or whether other students had suffered injuries.
