Death toll from Nepal’s anti-corruption protests raised to 72

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By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Authorities in Nepal have raised the death toll from last week’s unrest to 72 as search teams recover bodies from government offices, houses and other buildings set on fire during the anti-corruption protests, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

In the deadliest outbreak of political violence in Nepal for decades, mainly young Nepalis took to the streets of the capital and other cities early last week, prompting Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign on Tuesday.

Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters, some of whom torched state buildings, including the Supreme Court, parliament, police posts, politicians’ homes and private businesses.

“Bodies of many people who died in shopping malls, houses and other buildings that were set on fire or attacked are now being discovered,” health ministry spokesperson Prakash Budathoki said.

The ministry’s previous death toll was 51, updated as of Saturday. The latest data showed on Sunday that at least 2,113 people had been injured in the violence.

Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki has replaced Oli as interim prime minister, becoming the first woman to lead the Himalayan nation, and is tasked with holding a new parliamentary election called for March 5.

Karki, who formally took office on Sunday, said the government would pay compensation of 1 million rupees (about $7,100) to the families of those killed in the unrest and provide free treatment to the injured.

She began work in a building close to the prime minister’s office, which was set on fire during the protests.

“We must now engage in rebuilding the destroyed structures,” Karki told senior government officials, state television reported.

(Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Helen Popper)