Tibetan monk dies after setting himself on fire

BEIJING—The self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile says an 18-year-old Tibetan monk has died after setting himself on fire, the latest in a string of dozens of self-immolations by Tibetans in the past 17 months.

The Dharamsala, India-based government-in-exile says Lobsang Lozin, from Gyalrong Tsodun Kirti Monastery in northeastern Tibet, set himself on fire around noon Tuesday and marched toward the Ngaba town office.

It says Lozin died and that local Tibetans have blocked a bridge to prevent police from moving in.

On March 30, two monks from the same monastery died of self-immolation.

The International Campaign for Tibet says 43 Tibetans have self-immolated since February 2009.

Activists say the self-immolations are in protest of Beijing’s heavy-handed rule in the region. The Chinese government has confirmed some but not all of them.