Scene of the accident.

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 stopped at the 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 said 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".

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2009)