A Tibetan man has died after setting himself on fire, making him the 99th person to self-immolate since protests against Chinese rule began in 2009.
Kunchok Kyab, 23, set himself ablaze Tuesday in Bora township, near Labrang monastery, in Tibet's eastern Kansu province.
Exile sources with contacts in the area told VOA's Tibetan Service the farmer succumbed to his injuries and that Chinese security officials took custody of the body.
The wife and 10-month-old child of Kunchok Kyab, 23, who self-immolated in Tibet, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. (VOA Tibetan Service)x
The wife and 10-month-old child of Kunchok Kyab, 23, who self-immolated in Tibet, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. (VOA Tibetan Service)
Kyab, the fourth Tibetan from Bora to self-immolate since the beginning of 2012, is survived by his wife and 10-month-old child.
Tuesday's incident is the third self-immolation this month as Tibetans continue to call for the return of the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet.
Separately, VOA Tibetan reports the Chinese government appears to have stepped up efforts to cut off the flow of information about the situation in Tibet's autonomous region.
Beijing earlier this month accused an exiled Tibetan monk in south India of incitement and holding membership in the Tibet Youth Congress, which the Chinese government has designated as a terrorist group.
The monk, Choe Gyatso, had previously distributed information about other self-immolations inside Tibet.