Six Tibetans set themselves on fire in China in an escalating wave of protests as the country’s leaders gathered for a once-a-decade power transition, exile leaders said on Thursday.
A man set himself ablaze on Thursday in the Tibetan-inhabited Huangnan prefecture in Qinghai province where a 23-year-old woman self-immolated and died on Wednesday, the India-based exile government announced.
A trio of teenaged monks also set themselves alight on Wednesday in Aba County in Sichuan province, the focus of previous protests, while another burning was confirmed in the Tibetan Automonous Region on the same day.
Self-immolations to protest Chinese rule in Tibet have occurred regularly since March last year, but Wednesday marked the first time such a large number have happened on the same day. Two were reported dead.
“The self-immolations in Tibet are an appeal to the international community, to the Chinese government and to the Chinese people as human beings to hear their cry for help,” said Dicki Chhoyang, information secretary for the government.
A total of 69 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since February 2009, of which 54 have died, according to the government in exile, which has been based in India since Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959.
