11 Nepalis are shot dead in festival massacre at Hindu temple

Nagarkot, Nepal - At least 11 worshippers were killed and 19 injured when a Nepalese soldier opened fire on a Hindu festival around midnight on Wednesday night.

The villagers were marking the full moon with drink and dancing at a temple in Nagarkot, 15 miles from Kathmandu, when the massacre happened.

A resident, who asked not to be named, said that an off duty soldier opened fire indiscriminately with an automatic weapon after being set upon and beaten by the villagers.

Several reports said that the soldier, named Basu Dev Thapa, had been molesting women before he was beaten.

"I was afraid that if I ran I would be shot so I hid below the slope," the witness said, indicating a nearby depression. "When I came back there were dead and injured everywhere." Most of the victims were teenagers or in their 20s and included three women.

The suspected killer also died, although it was not clear whether he shot himself or was killed by colleagues from a nearby army camp.

The army has frequently been accused of attacks on civilians. Yesterday there were angry protests in the nearby town of Bhaktapur outside the hospital where the bodies had been taken.

Tyres were burnt and a crowd of several hundred pressed against a cordon of riot police as families demanded to be given the victims' bodies.

Anti-government slogans were chanted.

Human rights groups say that abuses by the army have increased since King Gyanendra seized power in a coup in February. He has used the army to back up his authoritarian government.

At a protest by opposition parties in Kathmandu which was planned before the massacre, politicians blamed the royal government for the killings and declared a general strike in Kathmandu for today in protest.

Both the government and the army have announced inquiries into the incident, and bereaved families have been offered £1,153 compensation by the government.

The scene of the massacre reflected the disarray created by the fleeing worshippers. A pile of oranges was trampled on a plastic sheet. The woman who was selling them died.

Another woman pointed out a bullet hole in a tree where she had been brewing tea. She said the man beside her dropped dead as she fled with her five-year-old daughter.

Below the wooded hill where the temple stands, families were wailing for their lost relatives. Kale Tamang, 26, was one of the victims.

His distraught mother said: "After his dinner he went up to see the festivities, but he never reached the idols. He was shot in the temple doorway."

Mr Tamang leaves a four-year-old daughter and a pregnant wife. Yesterday, shocked villagers said that the temple would never be used again.

The village was gripped with fear and grief. A local woman said, "We didn't do anything wrong. If young people from the village die it is difficult for the older ones. They should have just killed everyone."

Her elderly companion added: "Maybe they'll come in the night and kill us again."