RCMP officers look over a burned car in Burnaby after an unidentified body was found inside. (CBC)Police say they are unable to confirm whether a body found inside a burned car outside Clinton Elementary School in Burnaby, B.C., on Thursday morning was the victim of a homicide.

The Lower Mainland's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is leading the investigation, but the body was in such bad shape that there are still many unanswered questions, RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

"It's being investigated as a homicide, but we have not been able to confirm it's a homicide based on the condition of this body," he said.

"What we're trying to determine is where this vehicle was or what occurred leading up to this before it came to its resting point and caught on fire, or was set on fire."

He said police had not determined the victim's gender or identity.

Neighbours woken by explosion

RCMP blocked off several streets after the body was found in the burned car Thursday morning. (CBC)Neighbourhood resident Bill Nikiforuk said he was woken up by a noise shortly before 4 a.m. PT.

"I was laying in bed, and I heard a whoomp — just like a whoosh — at about 10 to four. I thought, 'That's odd, didn't sound like a gunshot or anything,' " he told CBC News.

But other neighbours insisted they did hear gunshots, along with what sounded like an explosion. Several people declined to be interviewed, while others said there have been several violent incidents in the neighbourhood in the past several years, and they'd rather remain anonymous.

When around 4 a.m. police arrived at the scene near the intersection of Plum Avenue and Clinton Street, southeast of Vancouver, the vehicle was still burning.

Traffic was cordoned off for several blocks around the area while officers investigated. Police released no details about the victim or the vehicle, which appeared to be a light-coloured sedan.