BEIJING — A sport utility vehicle plowed through crowds in front of Beijing's Forbidden City before crashing and catching fire Monday, killing the three occupants and two tourists and injuring 38 visitors and security officers, police said.
The dead included a female traveler from the Philippines, according to a statement on the Beijing police's microblog. Three other Filipinos and a Japanese man were among the injured, it said, but gave no details about their condition.
No word has been given about a possible cause behind the incident that closed one of the most politically sensitive and heavily guarded public spaces in the country, but authorities erected screens to hide the aftermath and hurriedly cleaned up the scene while images of the crash were taken down from the Internet.
The police notice said they were investigating and taking "effective measures to ensure the capital's safety and stability."