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‘It seems… they want to kill anyone not Tibetan’

“Oh my God. Oh no. That’s crazy. One hundred people are trying to stone one man. A man was trying to cross the street with his motorcycle — they were trying to stone him but it’s so crowded I can’t see whether they got him or not.

“We came out for a walk at about five on Friday. We were on Sera Street, which goes to the [Klukang] monastery. It sounds like the noise came from there; it sounds like at first they had been fighting in the temple.

“We saw people running and people in this hotel told us to get in quickly as the crowd was coming. They seem OK here, maybe the owner is Tibetan. All the other hotels have smashed windows.

“The residents are very angry. They are throwing stones at anyone who is Han [Chinese] or from other minorities like the Hui, who are Muslims. It seems like it’s ethnic — like they want to kill anyone not Tibetan.

“I would say it’s a riot here but I think in the centre it’s worse. There’s a lot of smoke — we can see it where there have been burnings. I heard people saying the authorities were firing, using guns. We don’t know. Here we have seen people trying to stone anyone they can — Han and other minorities, not foreigners. The Tibetans had stones and knives. I saw Chinese people running away — there was nothing they could do.

“We don’t see any police around here. Maybe they’re all in the centre and are too busy. It’s very violent.

“Oh my God. Someone has a gun in front of me. There’s a group of about 20 people — two of them have handguns. They are walking the street. They’re shooting. They didn’t have uniforms, but the way they were in a group I thought maybe they were police. They went down the street and the first one fired, that’s for sure - I think the others did; there was so much noise I can’t be sure. Then some of the citizens threw stones, but not at them — in the other direction. So I don’t know if they were police or maybe Tibetans.

“I have just been out to get my things. We are staying at the hotel tonight. There are still people on the streets but only Tibetans — if they see anyone Chinese they throw stones.

“Three times people raised their arms and then when they saw I was white they stopped it. The thing that surprised me most was that I saw no police or soldiers.

“I saw three people assaulting a man — I was 50 metres away, but I think he was Chinese. They kicked him and then one man had a knife and used it. He was lying on the floor and the man put the knife in his back, like he wanted to see he was dead. I had to get away, there were people throwing stones.

“When I came back he was gone — I don’t know if he’s dead. Then I saw people who had obviously been beaten or stoned. There wasn’t blood on them but they were so shocked.

“This area used to be a place where Tibetans and the Chinese were friendly.

“I think this is going to get worse. One person told me 300 people have died in the city centre [this figure is unconfirmed]. I just don’t know.”

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