"We are locked off in the hotel," said Paul via cellphone. "There are rumors that 13 arrested monks have been killed."

He stayed inside his hotel Friday night with the group, but reported that he heard gunfire and explosions into Saturday morning.

With nowhere to go, Ken tried to upload photos on his blog. "A Chinese guy came into the Internet cafe at the hotel. He wasn't in uniform, but it was clear that he was an undercover police agent. He turned off the computers and gave me a real dirty look, like he knew what we were doing."

Paul went into the reception at the front of the hotel to get a look out the window at the street. "The riot is still going on out there. It's getting worse and worse.

According to Ken, PLA troops moved in around 8:30 p.m., "with huge armored transport trucks and put out some of the fires. A new fire, however, which is taller than any building around, has just been started recently."

Paul described the Tibetans with machetes and sticks."