Two of the three people who set themselves on fire in Beijing suffered serious injuries, state media reported on Thursday, revealing for the first time that one was a woman.
The report by Xinhua news agency gave no other information on the identities or motive of the trio in Wednesday's incident, beyond a police statement that they came to Beijing to petition over an unspecified personal grievance.
Police have said they were in a vehicle and started the fire just before 3:00 pm (0700 GMT) at an intersection in a busy shopping area near Tiananmen Square, China's political heart.
The two people injured in the immolation bid were a man aged 59 and a woman aged 58, neither whom suffered life-threatening injuries, the report said.
It gave no information on the third person, whom the China Daily said was believed taken into custody.
Xinhua had originally said they were all men.
The injured man had suffered a severely injured respiratory tract and might need a tracheotomy, Xinhua said, quoting an official at the capital's Jishuitan Hospital.
The woman had seriously burnt fingers that might require amputation, it added. Both suffered from "inhalation injuries", it said.
"The couple are still in danger because in inhalation injuries, the danger period lasts 70 hours," it said.
Hospital officials declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
Xinhua quoted witnesses saying the fire had been quickly put out by police.
Under a system dating from imperial times, Chinese can petition to central government authorities in Beijing over injustices or unresolved disputes.
However, many such petitioners complain of unresponsiveness to their concerns and occasionally lash out in frustration, while others report being detained by authorities as they come to Beijing then sent back home or jailed.
The area where the incident occurred is about one kilometre (0.6 miles) from Tiananmen Square, the scene of pro-democracy protests in 1989 that the Chinese military crushed with deadly force.
Copyright 2009 AFP Asian Edition
