Disturbance and smoke in Tiananmen Square amid tight security for NPC meeting

White smoke and foam left by fire extinguishers were the only signs of a confrontation in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square Wednesday morning, amid tight security for the National People's Congress.

Five eyewitnesses close to the scene told the South China Morning Post how a commotion erupted near Tiananmen Gate, the main entrance to the Forbidden City, at around 11am.

Shortly afterwards smoke could be seen rising from the square. 

“I had a glance that four, five men trying to put out a fire,” said a woman from Jilin province at the scene. “It all happened so quickly.”

“I heard it was a woman around 40 who burned herself,” she said. “She was alive when they took her away.“

A number of unverified and undated photos shared online showed police rushing to extinguish a fire near the northern end of the square.