Beijing - Chinese authorities on Monday denied that police shot a Tibetan monk who had set himself on fire in the city of Aba in the south-western Chinese province of Sichuan.

Police when confronted by the burning man on Friday immediately put out the flames and brought the young monk to hospital, the authorities were quoted by the official Xinhua news agency.

The monk was in stable condition, state authorities said, adding that statements by independence groups that the 24-year-old monk was shot down were a complete fabrication.

Xinhua confirmed that the Tibetan monk had raised a Tibetan flag and a portrait of the exiled Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama security officials prevented a traditional prayer festival by hundreds of monks at a prayer hall earlier on Friday.

The monk poured petrol over himself and set myself alight after walking into the nearly Aba city centre.

The London-based Free Tibet Campaign said that witnesses reported hearing three gunshots after the monk was quickly surrounded by armed police. (dpa)