Anti Authorities protesters shout slogans outdoors the Galle Worldwide Cricket Stadium in the course of the second day of the second check cricket match between Australia and Sri Lanka in Galle, Sri Lanka, Saturday, July 9, 2022. (AP Photograph/Eranga Jayawardena)
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s beleaguered President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence in Colombo Saturday, a prime defence supply advised AFP, earlier than protesters gathered to demand his resignation stormed the compound.
“The president was escorted to security,” the supply mentioned, including that troops fired within the air to stop offended crowds from overrunning the President’s Palace.
Sirasa TV, a non-public broadcaster, confirmed crowds coming into the as soon as tightly-guarded residence.
Sri Lanka has suffered by way of months of meals and gas shortages, prolonged blackouts and galloping inflation after operating out of international foreign money to import very important items.
Big crowds had poured into the capital for the demonstration, the newest expression of unrest sparked by the island nation’s unprecedented financial disaster.
Police had withdrawn a curfew order issued on Friday after opposition events, rights activists and the bar affiliation threatened to sue the police chief.
1000’s of anti-government protesters ignored the stay-home order and even pressured railway authorities to function trains to take them to Colombo for Saturday’s rally, officers mentioned.
