Tibetan monk set himself on fire in China, dies

BEIJING – A state news agency says a Tibetan monk in western China who set himself on fire has died.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the monk, Phuntsog, died early Thursday, more than 10 hours after the self-immolation in Aba county in Sichuan province.

An exiled Tibetan monk said Wednesday the monk was beaten and kicked by police after he set himself on fire, and hundreds of monks and others rallied in response.

The account highlights simmering tensions in Tibet and Tibetan-inhabited regions in western China amid several anniversaries this month, including the March 10 anniversary of the unsuccessful revolt against China that caused the Dalai Lama to flee in 1959.