Three men in a vehicle lit themselves on fire in downtown Beijing this afternoon, the state-run Xinhua news service reported. The incident occurred just before 3 p.m. in a central shopping area not far from Tian’anmen Square. The highly public location of the fire, coupled with the sensitive date–today is the beginning of Losar, the Tibetan new year–provoked speculation that the self-immolation may have been some form of political protest.
The Beijing Public Security Bureau said that the three men were petitioners who came to the capital to report their grievances, which the authorities’ statement didn’t specify. The men’s vehicle burst into flames after it was stopped by police, the PSB said. Officers extinguished the fire, and two injured men were taken to the hospital. They are expected to survive their injuries.
Three hours after the incident the Wangfujing shopping street, which is just off Chang’an Boulevard, was filled with reporters and police. But no one who witnessed the incident wanted to talk.