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Tiananmen suspects arrested

October 30, 2013

Chinese state media has declared Monday's mystery car crash on Tiananmen Square a "terrorist attack,' saying arrests have ensued. Five people, including three occupants, were killed in the incident.

https://p.dw.com/p/1A8zc
Police cars block off the roads leading into Tiananmen Square as smoke rises into the air after a vehicle crashed in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing on October 28, 2013. Three people were killed when an SUV vehicle crashed into a crowd in Beijing's Tiananmen Square and burst into flames, state media said, as pictures showed a tower of smoke rising before the Forbidden City. TOPSHOTS CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Image: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Reports from China's state-run CCTV on Wednesday say that Chinese authorities made the arrests in Beijing ten hours after Monday's car crash.

The news station's report said the three people in the car, who died in the attack, and the five suspects who had been arrested belonged to the same family.

CCTV also referred to the incident as a "terrorist attack" for the first time.

An accident or an attack?

Initially, it was unclear whether the crash had been an accident or a deliberate attack on the infamous square in China's capital city.

The Chinese government's official news agency, Xinhua, quoted a police spokesperson as saying the crash was a "planned, organized, premeditated, violent terrorist act."

Chinese police announced on Tuesday that they were looking for two suspects from the restive, predominantly Muslim province of Xinjiang in connection with the crash.

It occurred near the main entrances to Beijing's Forbidden City when a white sport-utility vehicle (SUV) ploughed into pedestrians at Tiananmen Square and caught fire.

mz/ipj (dpa, AFP, AP)