KATHMANDU: Doctors went on strike in Nepal’s capital on Wednesday, shutting down hospitals, in protest over attacks by angry relatives of patients who had died in their care.

A Nepal Medical Association official said doctors were providing only minimal, emergency services, leaving hundreds of patients without medical treatment.

“We have closed all the private and public hospitals as doctors and health institutions are continuously being attacked by relatives of the patients,” said association general secretary Kedar Narsingh Khatri Chettri.

“The emergency services, however, will remain open,” he said.

The latest protest by the association came in response to a threat by relatives of one of the patients who died while undergoing treatment at a hospital.—AFP