Tibetan monk who set himself on fire is cremated

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Associated Press

Tsewang Norbu in an undated photo. Protesting Chinese rule in Tibet, Tsewang Norbu burned himself to death on August 15, 2011. (Photo/Free Tibet)

BEIJING (AP) -- A monk who set himself on fire in an ethnically Tibetan region of western China has been cremated.

The Free Tibet campaign in London says 29-year-old Tsewang Norbu died Monday after dousing himself with gasoline and setting himself on fire in Daofu county.

The official Xinhua News Agency says the monk's body was cremated Wednesday in accordance with Tibetan rituals. It says family members and monks attended his funeral.

It was the second reported self-immolation by a monk this year.

In March, a 21-year-old monk set himself on fire, also in Sichuan province, in an apparent protest against Chinese government rule over Tibet.