Nepal-India Quake Toll Rises to 980

An earthquake that devastated parts of Nepal and India earlier this week has killed more than 980 people, officials from the two countries said Friday.

The new death toll was reported as mourners paraded through the streets of this ancient city, calling for revenge after a former legislator was beaten to death by political rivals while he was distributing relief supplies to quake victims.

“Hang the murderers!” scores of young men shouted as they marched in front of a jeep bearing the battered body of Karna Hyanju, once a sympathizer of the now-outlawed Communist Party.

Witnesses said Hyanju was beaten with umbrellas and sticks late Thursday afternoon, then dragged through the streets for nearly two hours before police intervened. He died Friday at a hospital in Katmandu, 7 miles west of Bhaktapur.

Pashupati Rana, one of many Cabinet ministers who marched in the funeral procession on Friday, said the mayor, the deputy mayor and a member of the Rashtriya Panchayat, or nonpartisan assembly, were among those arrested for the killing.

Meanwhile, as reports of damage and devastation continued to arrive from remote parts of Nepal, Mother Teresa of Calcutta flew to Katmandu to see what help her religious order could offer to survivors.