Two men have set themselves on fire outside a temple that is a popular tourist site in Lhasa, marking the first time a recent wave of self-immolations to protest Chinese rule has reached the tightly guarded Tibetan capital, a US broadcaster has reported.
Radio Free Asia said in a statement that the men were taken away by authorities within minutes of setting themselves on fire outside the Jokhang Temple on Sunday. They were believed to be monks but their identities were not immediately available.
At least 34 such protests since March 2011 have drawn attention to China's restrictions on Buddhism and fuelled the call for the return from exile of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Most self-immolations have taken place in largley Tibetan areas of China. Only one has occurred in Tibet itself and none in the capital, Lhasa.
Protests have become rare in remote Tibet and Lhasa in particular because of tight police security since anti-government riots erupted in the capital in 2008.
Radio Free Asia cited a Tibetan living in exile as saying he had heard from others inside Tibet that flames had engulfed the two men and that they were believed to be seriously hurt or dead.
A woman with the Lhasa city police denied any immolation attempts had occurred. Like many Chinese bureaucrats she refused to give her name.
Fu Jun, an official with the propaganda department of the Tibetan regional Communist party office, said he was unaware of any immolations. Lhasa city police denied any such incident.
Chinese authorities have confirmed some of the self-immolations over the past year but not all.
Radio Free Asia said Lhasa was under heavy police and paramilitary guard and that the situation was very tense.