2013 Tiananmen Square attack A 4x4 vehicle crashed into a crowd and burst into flames near the portrait of Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Square. All three people inside the car were killed as well as two tourists in the square–one Filipino woman and the other a male Chinese citizen from Guangdong province. Thirty-eight people were injured. Witnesses at the scene said that the car involved in the incident was honking its horn at pedestrians. Chinese police later issued a notice to Beijing hotels seeking information about two people from China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The notice described a vehicle and four Xinjiang number plates.
Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident verification about the victims" raised questions about whether authorities had advanced knowledge of the self-immolation. Police were on the scene of the self-immolation within 90 seconds carrying numerous pieces of firefighting equipment. A European journalist was quoted as saying "I have never seen policemen patrolling on Tiananmen Square carrying fire extinguishers. How come they all showed up today? The location of the incident is at least 20 minutes roundtrip from the nearest building – the People's Great Hall." John Gittings of "The Guardian" stated, however, that it was common practice in many countries for police camera operators to be on