Beijing (
AsiaNews / Agencies) - Three people died and others were injured in an
"accident" that occurred in Tiananmen Square at noon today. According to
initial reports a car drove into a crowd, injuring a few tourists . According
to witnesses the car exploded and the dead include the driver and two people on
board. The
website Qianlong.com, linked to the Communist Party of China , said that some
tourists and a policeman were injured in the blast . Xinhua,
with great simplicity, devotes only two lines to the incident, saying that "a jeep went into the crowd and
caught fire in front of the Tian'anmen Rostrum."
Some
witnesses took photos of the vehicle in flames in the north end of the square
in front of the entrance to the Imperial
Palace , where a portrait of Mao Zedong hangs. The
area is also close to Zhongnanhai , the area of the " Forbidden City
" where most of the leaders live.
Witnesses
said that after the explosion and flames, fire fighters and police arrived en
masse at the scene blocking traffic in the area and cordoning off the scene of
the accident from the view of passersby.
On
4 June 1989, the square was the scene of a massacre of students and workers who
demanded more democracy and less corruption. Since
then it has been constantly under heavy police surveillance and security controls
to nip any demonstration in the bud.
Questioned
by journalists, the police did not give any explanation.