A Tibetan protester filmed himself as he set himself on fire outside the United Nations building in New York City on Thursday. 

Palden Lobsang, 52, shared the video, capturing him walking to the street corner in Midtown Manhattan, carrying a Tibetan flag and casually self-immolating, sources told the Daily Mail.

He then stood in the middle of the intersection, throwing flyers that read ‘China out of Tibet’ and ‘Free Tibet’ before cars passed him by. 

After about a minute, Lobsang could be seen collapsing to the ground still on fire, and soon two security officers could be seen rushing to the intersection to extinguish the fire.

Meanwhile, a woman who stumbled onto the scene appeared to have called 911, and Lobsang was pronounced dead at 7.04pm, sources said.

His Facebook profile shows he had earlier shared pictures of himself sitting outside the Cipriani event venue carrying New York City tourism bags. 

Palden Lobsang, 52, filmed himself as he set himself on fire outside the United Nations building in New York City on Thursday

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.