Tibetan monk covers his face as he walks along a street near Labrang Monastery, Xiahe county, Gansu Province, Feb. 11, 2013.
Tibetan Fatally Self-Immolates in China's Gansu Province
Another Tibetan has set himself on fire in western China to protest Beijing's rule of ethnic Tibetan areas.
Sources say 27-year-old Tsezung Kyab was standing in front of the prayer hall of Gaden Shedrup Choekhorling, a Buddhist monastery in Gansu province, when he burned himself to death Monday.
CLICK TO EXPAND: Graph of Tibetan self-immolations since 2011
According to witnesses, Tibetans who had gathered to celebrate a religious festival prevented security forces from extinguishing the fire, thereby allowing Kyab to, in their words, finish his protest and end his suffering.
Kyab is reported to be a cousin of Pema Dorjee, a man who self-immolated in the same area in December.
CLICK TO EXPAND: Tibet Immolations - revised update February 25, 2013
At least 106 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 to protest what they say is Chinese repression of their culture and homeland. More than 80 of them have died.
China denies it is repressing Tibetans and calls suicide protests acts of terrorism.
Beijing also contends that Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has incited the self-immolations to promote Tibetan separatism. The Dalai Lama says he has done nothing to encourage the suicidal protests.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.
