Rioting, Fire, 2 Killed in Lhasa

KATHMANDU—Chinese police fired on rioting Tibetan protesters in Lhasa on Friday, killing at least two people, as Tibetans torched cars and shops and anti-Chinese demonstrators surged through the streets of the regional capital. Witnesses who spoke to RFA’s Tibetan service reported seeing two bodies in the central Barkhor area of Lhasa, while unconfirmed reports set the death toll higher.

“There was shooting and death,” another Tibetan source told RFA’s Mandarin service, adding, “It’s not convenient to speak on the phone.”

"Now the local Tibetans are protesting in the Barkhor area," a third Tibetan source said, referring to a central area in Lhasa. "They ransacked Chinese shops and the police fired live ammunition into the crowd. No one is allowed to move around in Lhasa now."

The rioting began around 10 a.m. Friday and by early evening Lhasa roads were blocked, stranding workers inside their office buildings, sources said.

A Han Chinese resident of Lhasa said cars and shops had been torched, while another said the situation was "very messy.”

Tibetan sources in the city said the protesters were burning and smashing Chinese shops and anything Chinese as they moved through the city, leaving thick black smoke billowing over Lhasa.

Protesters were running through the streets with traditional white scarves in their hands, shouting "Free Tibet," sources said.

The protests swelled to a peak early Friday amid a reduced police presence on the streets.