Six Tibetans set selves alight in China: Exile government

DHARAMSHALA (AFP) - Six Tibetans set themselves on fire in China in an escalating wave of protests as the country's leaders gathered for a once-a-decade power transition, exile leaders said on Thursday.

A man set himself ablaze on Thursday in the Tibetan-inhabited Huangnan prefecture in Qinghai province where a 23-year-old woman self-immolated and died on Wednesday, the India-based exile government announced.

A trio of teenaged monks also set themselves alight on Wednesday in Aba County in Sichuan province, the focus of previous protests, while another burning was confirmed in the Tibetan Automonous Region on the same day.

Self-immolations to protest Chinese rule in Tibet have occurred regularly since March 2011, but Wednesday marked the first time such a large number have happened on the same day. Two were reported dead.