Three people have been killed and 11 others injured after a Jeep crashed into a crowd in China's Tiananmen Square.
Tourists and police were hurt in the incident as the vehicle hit a barrier at the entrance to the Forbidden City and burst into flames.
Police have evacuated the square, which was the site of pro-democracy protests in 1989 that were brutally crushed by the authorities.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying declined to say whether the government believed it was a terror attack. She said she did not know the specifics of the case and refused to comment further.
Streets leading to the area were blocked off, with screens erected to stop people photographing the scene.
Two AFP journalists were forcibly detained close to the site when they went to report on the story.
Sky News China Correspondent Mark Stone said reports in China described it as an "accident".
But he said many people would find that hard to believe given the "politically-sensitive" location and the fact the road is straight for 40km.
Two hours after the incident, Sky News drove through the square to film the aftermath.
The square was the focus of a 1989 protest that was violently suppressed "With the exception of a wet patch on the road, the whole area had been cleared up," Stone said.
"But in an indication of how sensitive the incident is, the Sky News vehicle was stopped by the authorities. They questioned the Sky team for 20 minutes and forced them to delete the video footage."
The driver and two passengers were killed in the vehicle. The official Xinhua news agency said 11 tourists and police officers were injured and taken to hospital.
Stone said: "The location of the incident couldn't be more significant. It's right underneath the portrait of Chairman Mao on the Tiananamen Gate at the entrance to the Forbidden City. It is the most symbolic location in China."
He added: "There are three likely scenarios. One: this was a car crash which, by astonishing coincidence, took place at the most politically-sensitive place in China.
"Or it was a form of protest; possibly a political protest against the communist leadership.
"The most probable scenario, however, is that this was an extreme form of petitioning: a family with a gripe, passed over by local authorities, take things to the extreme.
"We saw this with the airport bomber - a man who blew himself up at Beijing airport earlier this year to complain about police brutality in his province."
Tiananmen Square is heavily policed to guard against political protests as occasionally happens on sensitive dates. It was the focus of a 1989 pro-democracy movement that was violently suppressed by the military.
News of the incident first emerged on Chinese social media sites, with pictures showing the flaming wreck surrounded by police and emergency vehicles.
Chinese bloggers are speculating that the crash must have been intentional.
"Is this the 2013 Tiananmen self-immolation incident?" asked one poster. "There's still a person inside the car!"
Around 120 people have set themselves alight since February 2009 in Tibet and adjoining regions of China, in protests against Chinese oppression.
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