BEIJING, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A vehicle plowed into a crowd of people and caught fire in front of Tiananmen Square in Beijing Monday, killing five people and injuring 38, police said.
The crash killed the driver and two passengers and two tourists, a male and female, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
The vehicle, a Jeep, struck a guardrail before bursting into flames, police said.
The Los Angeles Times said the accident may have been deliberate, reporting that the vehicle was driven along a sidewalk toward the square's huge portrait of Mao Zedong before it struck the crowd and caught fire.
Tiananmen Square remains a sensitive location and frequently is the scene of attempted protests and self-immolations. It is best-known for the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
