5 dead, 38 injured in Beijing car blaze

BEIJING – A jeep crashed into a crowd of people and caught fire in front of the Tian’anmen rostrum in downtown Beijing at noon on Monday, killing five people and injuring another 38, police said.

The dead include three people in the jeep, a Philippine female tourist and a male tourist from south China’s Guangdong Province, according to the police.

The 38 injured include two female and one male tourist from the Philippines as well as a male tourist from Japan.

The jeep crashed into a guardrail of Jinshui Bridge across the moat of the Forbidden City before bursting into flames at 12:05 p.m., according to municipal police and Beijing Emergency Medical Center.

The fire was put out soon after. Traffic returned to normal there at 1:09 p.m..

The injured are receiving treatment at nearby hospitals.