Two Tibetans set themselves on fire, first time in Lhasa | WPN World People News

Two men have set themselves ablaze outside a temple popular with tourists in Lhasa, the first sign that self immolation protests against the Chinese rule have reached the heavily guarded Tibetan capital.

According to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), the men were young and were believed to be in early 20s.

The protests took place Sunday afternoon outside Lhasa's Jokhang temple, one of the holiest sites for Tibetan Buddhists.

"They seem to be young and one of them is believed to have died, because flames consumed his whole body. We don't have any information about the status of the other person," said executive director of the TCHRD Tsering Tsono.

Media reports identified the two as Tobgye Tseten, from Xiahe county in a Tibetan community of the northwestern Gansu province, and Dargye from Aba county in the Tibetan area of southwest Sichuan province.

Reports said Tobgye Tseten died and Dargye was seriously injured but in a stable condition and able to talk, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

Police on patrol put out the flames and took the two men to hospital immediately, said the news agency.

US-based Radio Free Asia quoted a witness as saying: "Some who tried to go close to the site were also detained and taken away while mobile phones of those who were close to the site were confiscated."

The Chinese government tightened security in most Tibetan areas this year after an escalation of anti-government protests and some 34 self-immolations, many of them by monks.

This is the first incident of self-immolation protests in Lhasa that has been under tight police security since anti-government riots erupted in Lhasa in 2008.

Source: The Asia News.Net