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Nepal palace shooting an 'accident'
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NEPAL'S caretaker king yesterday described the killing of King Birendra and other members of the royal family as an accident as the impoverished nation struggled to come to terms with the bloody incident.
Earlier reports said that Crown Prince Dipendra had shot dead eight of his family in a dispute over his choice of bride.
But Prince Gyanendra, named regent because Dipendra, who is his father's heir but remains in a coma, said in Nepal's first official comment on the incident that the accidental firing of an automatic weapon was to blame for Friday's killings.
“According to the information received by us (they) were seriously injured in an accidental firing from an automatic weapon,” Gyanendra said in a statement.
The statement, which did not make clear who was holding the gun at the time of the incident, said that those who died had been rushed to a military hospital but could not be saved.
Following the state funeral on Saturday, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala appealed for calm and pledged that the full facts would be made public in due course.
On Saturday, Home Minister Ram Chandra Poudel said that the 29-year-old crown prince had shot King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya, his sister Princess Shruti, 24, his brother Prince Nirajan, 22, and other royals after a family quarrel late on Friday and then turned the gun on himself.
Poudel later said it was not clear just how the royals died.
Media reports said the queen opposed the British-educated crown prince's planned choice of a bride and the prince shot his family after an argument at the dinner table.
Officials said that Dipendra remained in a coma in critical condition. Media reports said that he was clinically dead and being kept alive on a respirator.
Analysts say the incident could have a major impact on stability in Nepal where Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has come under heavy pressure to quit over corruption allegations.
Some protesters hurled stones at police on Saturday, accusing the government of being behind the slayings.(SD-Agencies)
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