In a dramatic escalation of the country’s ongoing economic crisis, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the country’s embattled president, fled his official residence in the capital on Saturday before protestors calling for his resignation stormed the compound, according to a top defence source who spoke on condition of anonymity to AFP. The president was ‘escorted to safety,’ according to the source, and the military fired rounds into the air to dissuade throngs of irate citizens from assaulting the President’s Palace.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators burst through police barricades to storm the president’s official mansion in one of the largest anti-government protests in the unstable country this year. The demonstrators rushed into Colombo’s government neighbourhood, chanting anti-presidential slogans and breaking down various police barricades to reach Rajapaksa’s residence. According to the witness, despite police firing bullets into the air, the irate throng proceeded to surround the presidential residence.
Several protestors with helmets and Sri Lankan flags stormed the president’s home, according to footage from the local TV news program NewsFirst. As a result of a severe foreign exchange shortage that has curtailed imports of gasoline, food, and medication, the 22 million-person island is witnessing the worst financial upheaval in seven decades. President Gotabaya and the Rajapaksa dynasty have been blamed for the country’s demise. Since March, generally peaceful protests have demanded his resignation. However, anger has grown when the cash-strapped country stopped receiving fuel imports, prompting school closures and rationing of gasoline and diesel for essential services.
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