Yungdrug set fire to himself along the main road in Dzato county town and shouted slogans calling for freedom in Tibet and for the return of the Dalai Lama and the Karmapa (a prominent Tibetan lama).

After onlookers, including local Chinese shop owners, were able to put out the flames with buckets of water, security forces cordoned off the area and took Yungdrug’s body to the local hospital.

The following day local authorities informed family members that Yangdang would be transferred to a hospital outside the Tibetan area due to his serious condition. However, local authorities later informed family members that Yungdrug died while in transport.