Buildings were set ablaze and politicians furiously attacked this week as Nepal citizens brought down their government. Military choppers evacuated several lawmakers as the protesters set fire to their homes and chased them down the streets. They also torched the Supreme Court and set several official buildings including the Presidential residence ablaze. Visuals that have since gone viral showed the Kathmandu Hilton hotel turned into a charred husk and vandals looting the house of a Nepali businessman.
Hilton Hotel in Kathmandu torched
The tallest hotel in Kathmandu turned to ash on Tuesday — merely a year after opening its doors. Dramatic visuals shared online showed flames pouring of the windows as protesters raged across the city. It remains unclear whether guests were caught up in the carnage with some later posting videos seeking help. Some on social media claimed that they had seen visuals of toursts trying to escape the building. FinancialExpress.com could not independently verify this.
“The fact that protesters targeted a hotel where tourists were staying shows how the situation spiraled beyond any legitimate protest!” fumed one X user.
“Bhatbhateni burned, Businesses burned, Factories burned. Major national institutions burned. And people are cheering that. No one will dare to invest in Nepal anymore,” a Reddit post lamented.
“This is so sad. I watched some Instagram stories of tourists escaping the building. This was completely unnecessary,” added a third.
Some on social media have offered an explanation — contending that the building had stood for corruption and “elite capture” in the minds of many Nepalis. It had been mired in controversy before its repeatedly delayed opening and even faced raids for suspected irregularities and other backroom deals. The benefits of ‘foreign investment’ had allegedly flown to a handful of politically connected families — coming back to the core of the ongoing uprising.
Similar incidents of hotel-burning were also reported from other Nepali cities — with one Indian tourist requesting Embassy support via social media.
“I request the Indian embassy to please help us. All those who can help us, please help. I am stranded here in Pokhara, Nepal. I had come here to host a volleyball league, and currently, the hotel where I was staying has been burned down. All my luggage, all my belongings, were in my room, and the entire hotel was set on fire. I was in the spa, and people were running behind me with very large sticks, and I barely managed to escape with my life,” the woman — identified as Upasana Gill — can be heard saying.
House of Nepali businessman ransacked
Multiple houses linked to Nepali politicians and business leaders have also been ransacked and destroyed by the protesters over the past two days. Videos of protesters targeting Nepali businessman Upendra Mahato have, however, gone viral for all the wrong reasons — as it appears to have been a case of mistaken identity. The official is currently in Russia and serves as the president of the Russia-Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Local media reports later suggested that the protesters had mistaken his house for the residence of Janata Samajbadi Party Upendra Yadav.