Rights groups says another Tibetan sets himself on fire to protest Chinese rule; tally near 60

BEIJING – Another Tibetan has set himself on fire while shouting slogans calling for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet, a London-based rights group said.

Free Tibet said Lhamo Kyeb, a 27-year-old father of two children, died Saturday near a monastery in northwestern China's Gansu province. Citing a witness, it said he set himself on fire and ran toward Bhora monastery in Xiahe county and that state security forces standing nearby ran after him and tried to put out the flames.

The witness said Lhamo Kyeb attempted to stop them from extinguishing the fire, forcing them to back away, and then he walked toward the monastery and fell to the ground.

The group said nearly 60 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since March 2011 to protest Chinese rule over the Himalayan region.

Calls to the county government and police rang unanswered Sunday. A man on duty at the prefectural government said he had no information.

The self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharmsala, India, urged the international community on Sunday to press China "to end the deepening crisis in Tibet."

"The tragic self-immolations by Tibetans would stop only if the Chinese government address their genuine and long-standing grievances, and find a lasting solution to the problem of Tibet through dialogue," Kalon Dicki Chhoyang of the government-in-exile said in a statement.

Chinese authorities routinely deny Tibetan claims of repression, although they have confirmed some self-immolations and accused supporters of the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama of encouraging such acts. The Dalai Lama and representatives of the Tibetan government-in-exile say they oppose all violence.

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Associated Press writer Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.