A Tibetan monk died after self-immolating in China, state media said Monday, taking to 15 the number of people who have set themselves on fire in Tibetan areas in less than a year in apparent protest. Nyage Sonamdrugyu, 40, set himself ablaze early Sunday morning in Qinghai in northwest China, the official Xinhua news agency reported, saying the monk was a high-ranking lama — a Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader. It is the first time the Tibetan-inhabited province has been hit by such a death. Most self-immolations have taken place in neighbouring Sichuan province, in what rights groups say are protests against perceived religious repression. The Tibetan government-in-exile, based in India, said in a statement the victim, whom it called Sonam Wangyal, self-immolated in Darlag county in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Golog to protest a lack of religious freedom.