4 Tibetans self-immolate to protest Chinese rule: Rights group

BEIJING (AP) - Three teenage monks and a Tibetan woman set fire to themselves in the largest number of confirmed self-immolations protesting Chinese rule over the Himalayan region in a single day, a London-based rights group said.

Free Tibet director Stephanie Brigden said the group expects Tibetan protests to continue to escalate as the Communist Party's congress - a weeklong conference that will unveil China's new leaders - began on Thursday.

The three monks set fire to themselves on Wednesday afternoon outside a police office in southwest Sichuan province calling for freedom for Tibet and the return of their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Free Tibet said in a statement. It said it was the first documented case of a triple self-immolation.

The youngest monk, identified as 15-year-old Dorjee, died at the scene and his companions, Samdup and Dorjee Kyab, both 16, were taken to a hospital by security forces and their conditions were unknown, said Free Tibet.