Nepal’s prime min­is­ter re­signed Tues­day as protests against a short-lived ban on so­cial me­dia grew in­creas­ing­ly vi­o­lent and ex­pand­ed in­to broad­er crit­i­cism of his gov­ern­ment and ac­cu­sa­tions of cor­rup­tion among the Hi­malayan coun­try’s po­lit­i­cal elite.

Demon­stra­tions led by young peo­ple an­gry about the block­ing of sev­er­al so­cial me­dia sites gripped the coun­try’s cap­i­tal a day ear­li­er, and po­lice opened fire on the crowds, killing 19 peo­ple.

The ban was lift­ed Tues­day, but the protests con­tin­ued, with demon­stra­tors set­ting fire to the homes of some of Nepal’s top lead­ers and the par­lia­ment build­ing. The air­port in the cap­i­tal of Kath­man­du was shut, and army he­li­copters fer­ried some min­is­ters to safe places.