Security has increased in Beijing a day after police said they had detained five suspects over what it calls "an attack" on Tiananmen Square.
It's one of China's most closely guarded areas but on Monday a car drove into a crowd bursting into flames, killing all three people in the car and two bystanders.
The occupants of the vehicle appear to have been Uighurs, from western China.
State media left no question as to their guilt.
Newspapers demanded severe punishment for an attack it blames on Islamist militants.
Some residents expressed fear about how unrest in Xinjiang had apparently made its way to the capital.
26-YEAR-OLD COMPANY EMPLOYEE ZHANG XIAOYAN, SAYING:
"Actually I feel very afraid because we often come to work along this street, and I often go over to Tiananmen. I thought something like this would be so far off from happening to us here, but for this to suddenly happen so close to me, I feel like I can't accept
