Tibetan mother dies in fire protest

A Tibetan mother of three has died in the latest in a recent wave of self-immolations to protest against Chinese rule, according to reports.

The woman set herself on fire outside a Buddhist monastery yesterday afternoon in an ethnically Tibetan region of western Sichuan province.

She died at the scene, according to London-based Free Tibet and US government-backed broadcaster Radio Free Asia.

That would mark at least the 35th Tibetan self-immolation since March last year to draw attention to China's restrictions on Buddhism and call for the return from exile of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Chinese authorities have confirmed some of the self-immolations but not all.