Tibetan monks 'held after riot'

Some 93 monks have been held by Chinese police after a riot in an ethnically Tibetan town, state-run media report.

The monks were held after a crowd of at least 100 attacked a police station in Gyala township in Qinghai province on Saturday, Xinhua news agency said.

The agency quoted officials as saying policemen and government staff had been assaulted and "slightly injured".

The protest was apparently sparked after a monk detained for advocating Tibetan independence escaped from jail.

Chinese authorities said the monk fled on Saturday and was still missing.

But a Tibetan website said the monk had killed himself by jumping into a river.