Ten minutes later, the shop was on fire.

"My girl was wonderful. We all loved her," said Chen Jun, Chen Jia's father.

Yishion's owner, Tang Yanqing, from neighboring Qinghai Province, later found the bodies in the attic of her shop.

They were sitting and lying around a bed, their faces burnt black, said Tang, whose younger cousin Yang Dongmei was among the dead.

Cering Zhoigar's aunt fainted when she saw the site of the 21-year-old's death on Tuesday, said Cering Zhoigar's brother, Damzhin.

"Why did they do this to her?" asked Damzhin.

A young women works nearby named Ma Xiaolan burst into tears at the scene. She said: "Cering Zhoigar and Chen Jia were my best friends in Lhasa. I knocked on Yishion's door to warn them to escape in time. I didn't know that it would be the final goodbye."

A young Tibetan named Samzhub and his four colleagues hurried to the site from another town on hearing the sad story. They put their candles in front of the photos and bowed.

"I am too sad to say anything. These mobs were merciless," Samzhub said.

The 18-year-old Chen Jia's father murmured again and again:"Jiajia, I wish you a good journey to heaven."

Chen Jun thanked the people who had come to mourn his daughter. More and more people joined in the queue, silently. They offered lilies in remembrance of the young women, as soft snow fell all around.

(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2008)