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The car fire “started suddenly” when police stopped the car and came forward to question the passengers inside at around 2:50 p.m. at the crossing of Wangfujing and Chang’an avenues, according to a statement by the Beijing government information office. Police then extinguished the fire.

 The statement said two of the three people, who were inside the car, were hospitalized for non-life threatening injuries.

 Xinhua has confirmed with two separate sources that there were two men and one woman in the vehicle at the time of the incident. One woman and one man were taken to the hospital.

 The information office statement mentioned nothing about the third person.

 The office said earlier that three people “set fire to themselves” while inside the car.

 The statement went on to say, “police found something abnormal about the car” before they stopped it at the southern end of Wangfujing avenue.

 ”The three people came to Beijing for personal petitions,” the Beijing government information office said.

 The car had a non-Beijing license plate. But the people’s identities have not been released.

A passerby surnamed Li said he saw a car stop at south end of Wangfujing at around 3:15 p.m.. “There are signs of a fire on its surface and extinguisher foam around it. People around me say some people set fire to themselves.”

Another witness said he saw that policemen were “possibly trying to intercept the car. The people in the car lit a fire, but it was quickly put out”.

Tags: beijing

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