Alarming footage shows the ex-president of China, Hu Jintao, escorted out of the Communist Party Congress - hours before he disappeared from his country's social media.
The nation's censors appeared to quickly scrub any recent references to the 79-year-old politician from the web after his departure disrupted the event at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
But the former leader appeared disorientated and reluctant to leave the front row of proceedings, where he was sitting next to President Xi Jinping. In the footage, shared online, a steward attempts to take a sitting Hu by the arm but is shaken off.
A seated Mr Xi, 69, is seen holding papers down on the desk as Mr Hu tries to grab them.
Mr Hu, who served as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 2002 to 2012, was eventually removed from the building. Search results for him on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, have since appeared to be heavily censored.
Authorities have offered no explanation for Mr Hu's exit, which came just before the 2,300 delegates at the Congress voted unanimously to endorse Mr Xi's "core" leadership position.
But state media has claimed Mr Hu was "not feeling well" during the ceremony.
Neil Thomas, a senior China analyst at the Eurasia Group consultancy, said: "We still don't know what caused Hu's actions, such as whether it was opposition to Xi's power or simply an unfortunately timed senior moment.
"So without more information it's hard to draw solid conclusions about how this incident relates to Chinese politics."
Last Sunday, former engineer Mr Hu was escorted on stage for the opening ceremony of the congress.
The event lasts one week, after which it is expected Mr Xi will be announced as the president for a third term.
The Communist Party Congress is held in Beijing every five years and cemented Xi Jing Ping's position as a powerful leader.
Jiang Zemin, 96, who was president before Mr Hu, did not appear at this congress.
