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5 killed in Tiananmen Square as car drives into crowd

 

 

     

BEIJING, October 28, 2013 At least three people were killed and 38 others injured when a car crashed into a crowd of people in Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, State media reported on Monday. Photographs circulating on Chinese social media websites showed a car in flames right in front of the Tiananmen gate. Police authorities said the car crashed into a guardrail in front of a bridge on the moat that surrounds the Forbidden City at around noon on Monday, Xinhua reported. The driver and two passengers were reported killed. Two tourists, including one foreigner - were also reported to have died, while at least 38 others were injured. While it remained unclear whether the crash was an accident or deliberate, the incident sparked wide discussion on Chinese social media websites. Most microbloggers speculated that the crash may have been an intended attack, considering that Tiananmen Square is one of the most politically sensitive places in Beijing. The Square has witnessed many protests in the past, most notably in 1989, when the government crushed student protesters. The Square, and the Tiananmen gate that now bears Mao's portrait, have also in recent years emerged as sites of protests for aggrieved Chinese citizens, who travel to the capital from the provinces to have their grievances heard. One self-immolation protest was reported to have taken place last year in front of the Mao portrait. Considering the sensitivity of the location, authorities moved quickly to limit discussion of the incident, scrubbing photographs and comments posted on social media websites like the Chinese Twitter-equivalent Sina Weibo. Barricades were put up around the site of the crash immediately as the authorities doused the flames of the wreckage. All of Tiananmen Square was evacuated, and one of the two metro rail stations that lead to the square was closed for four hours, according to one attendant at the metro station. However, by 4 pm (local time) - only four hours after the incident was reported to have taken place - the site, which is popular among tourists, was reopened to the public, and bore no signs of the incident besides patches of water on the footpath in front of the Tiananmen gate. Police officials The Hindu spoke to at the scene of the incident refused to comment about the case. "What car are you talking about?" one police officer on the scene said. While authorities have, as yet, not released details about the driver and two passengers, the incident is not the first of its kind. In 1982, a disgruntled female taxi driver, who had been fined, drove her car into the almost exact location, killing five people and injuring more than a dozen near the same bridge on the moat that surrounds the Forbidden City.