Hundreds gather in China for protest

BEIJING: Hundreds of Tibetans gathered in China's southwest to hold a vigil for a young Buddhist monk who set himself on fire, a rights group said Monday, in the latest self-immolation to hit the country.

The 18-year-old monk, identified as Nangdrol, set himself alight Sunday in Sichuan province's Rangtang county, where one Tibetan was reportedly shot dead by security forces last month, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) said.

Citing exiled Tibetan sources with contacts in the area, ICT said Nangdrol had died and his body was taken back to a local monastery. The information was confirmed by the London-based Free Tibet.

Monks did not comply with police orders to hand over the body and more than 1,000 people gathered to hold a vigil on Sunday evening, ICT said.

The group said the young Buddhist monk shouted "May HH (His Holiness) Dalai Lama live 10,000 years" and "Freedom for Tibet" when he set himself on fire.

An official surnamed Huang, who works for the finance department of the Rangtang government, denied the self-immolation and gathering had taken place. (AFP)