Smoke billows from the burning Hilton Hotels, a day after it was set ablaze by protesters in Kathmandu on September 10, 2025. (Photo by Prabin Ranabhat / AFP)
Kathmandu: Nepal is assessing the multi-million dollar damage from last week's violent protests, when parliament, government offices and a newly opened Hilton Hotel were set ablaze.
At least 72 people were killed in two days of anti-corruption protests, with scores more badly injured, according to official figures.
"So much has been destroyed," police spokesman Binod Ghimire told AFP, adding that it would take time to calculate the full extent of the damage, including outside the capital.
Nepal's new interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki, speaking as she began work on Sunday, described the "widespread loss of lives and property".
At the Supreme Court, officials are working under tents outside the charred building, alongside rows of burned-out vehicles, trying to salvage water-soaked documents.
AFP photographers who visited the gutted parliament building said entire halls had been reduced to blackened ruins by fires that burned uncontrolled for hours on September 9.
The Hotel Association of Nepal reported more than 20 hotels damaged, including the Hilton fire. Others were looted.
Losses were estimated at 25 billion Nepali rupees ($177 million), with more than 2,000 workers affected. Damage to the Hilton alone was put as high as $56 million.
Tourism is a key employer, the country's fourth largest, providing jobs to more than 371,000 people, according to government figures, with more than a million visitors every year.
Fire also ripped through Singha Durbar, the sprawling palace that housed the prime minister's office and ministries.
The historic building is in ruins, its white pillars streaked black.
As well as government offices, police stations were attacked, and courts were burned.
"All our records, evidence, files of the Supreme Court have been all destroyed," Karki said. "Extremely important bodies of the state were targeted and attacked."
'Time and resources'
More than 12,500 prisoners who escaped during the chaos remain on the run, presenting a major security challenge.
Protesters targeted symbols of the ruling elite or the wealthy. They torched the homes of politicians, car showrooms, and private offices.
Even media outlets were stormed and set ablaze.
The Kantipur Media Group's building was badly damaged, although the broadcaster has returned to air from a makeshift studio and its newspaper has resumed online.
Durga Khanal, 45, from the Department of Roads, said her office had been badly damaged.
"I support the change they are striving for, but I cannot agree with the destruction of physical infrastructure," she said.
New minister Kulman Ghising, who has the energy, infrastructure, transport and urban development portfolios, has ordered a rapid damage assessment and a reconstruction roadmap within a week.
Nepal's chambers of commerce and industry federation said it was still collating information.
"No type of infrastructure has been spared. The government, private sector, media have all endured losses," economist Chandra Mani Adhikari told AFP.
"It will take a lot of time and resources to recover and rebuild everything."
