A man is fighting for his life in a New York hospital after setting himself on fire outside the United Nations headquarters in an apparent act of protest over Tibet, in one of the most dramatic demonstrations seen outside the landmark building in recent years.
The incident unfolded at around 7pm on Thursday on East 43rd Street and First Avenue in Manhattan, directly in front of the UN complex. According to sources cited by the New York Post, UN surveillance cameras captured the man planting a Tibetan flag on the pavement before the self-immolation took place. Emergency services rushed to the scene and transported him to Bellevue Hospital, where he was described as being in a grave condition.
The Tibetan flag was still standing at the scene more than an hour after the incident as NYPD officers and UN security personnel investigated. Papers found nearby reportedly carried messages including “China Out of Tibet,” strongly suggesting the act was politically motivated.
The man who set himself on fire outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on Thursday evening has been identified as Tibetan activist Lobga Rangzen, who is pictured wearing a pendant bearing the image of the Dalai Lama.
Rangzen, who is being treated at Bellevue Hospital in a grave condition, is understood to be a committed Tibetan independence campaigner. The Dalai Lama pendant visible in the photograph is consistent with the Tibetan flags and papers bearing messages including “China Out of Tibet” found at the scene following the protest.
Self-immolation has a long history as an extreme form of political protest, used most prominently by Tibetan activists and Buddhist monks demonstrating against Chinese rule. Since China assumed control of Tibet in 1950, the region has been the subject of sustained international concern over the suppression of Tibetan culture, language and religious practice. Dozens of Tibetans have set themselves alight in acts of protest against Chinese policies over the past two decades, though such incidents outside a major Western institution are exceptionally rare.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
