3 People Set Their Car Afire In Beijing
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Thursday, February 26, 2009
BEIJING, Feb. 25 -- Three people set themselves on fire at a busy intersection in an expensive shopping district in downtown Beijing on Wednesday afternoon, police and state media reports said.
A preliminary investigation showed the car's occupants had come to the capital to file grievances with the central government, police said. But their exact motives were unclear.
Just before 3 p.m., a car with out-of-town license plates pulled up to the southern end of the Wangfujing Pedestrian Street, a popular tourist spot, Beijing police said in a faxed statement. When police approached the car, the interior suddenly burst into flames. Police put out the fire and sent two of the occupants to the hospital, where their injuries were listed as serious. A third person was taken away by ambulance, the New China News Agency said without elaborating. His status Wednesday night was unknown.
Self-immolation in China can be used as a political statement or a last-resort protest by individuals upset that the government has not resolved their complaints. In 2001, five people the government said were members of the banned Falun Gong sect set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square, the scene of a deadly crackdown on student protests 20 years ago this June. Falun Gong denies that people who set themselves on fire are true followers.
Three years ago, a man set himself on fire in the square, half a mile from the site of Wednesday's incident, to protest not being paid.
On Wednesday, a witness reported seeing "some kind of incendiary device" explode as police wrenched open the door of the small, gray hatchback, which had three Chinese flags attached to its roof, according to Reuters.
The limp body of a man pulled from the car was laid out on the street, the witness said, while police pulled a screaming woman from the passenger side. Police also removed blankets and cans from the back seat, according to the witness, who was passing by on a bicycle.
Chinese counterterrorism experts have warned that supporters of separatist movements fighting to end Chinese rule in Tibet and Xinjiang as well as Falun Gong adherents could stir up dissent and possibly turn to self-immolation and self-poisoning.
