13 civilians burned or stabbed to death in Lhasa riot

BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Thirteen innocent civilians were burned or stabbed to death in last Friday's Lhasa riot, said Qiangba Puncog, chairman of Tibet Autonomous Regional Government, at a news briefing in Beijing on Monday.

The regional government chief cited two cases of brutality happening on that day.

In one case, a civilian was reportedly poured gasoline by rioters and burned to death alive. In another case, rioters beat a patrol policeman who fell into a swoon, and then cut a piece of flesh from his butt.