Lagatar24 Desk
Colombo, July 13: Crisis-hit Sri Lanka declared an indefinite nationwide state of emergency on Wednesday, hours after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country, according to the prime minister’s office said.
“Since the president is out of the country, an emergency has been declared to deal with the situation in the country,” Dinouk Colombage, spokesman for PM Wickremesinghe, told AFP.
The Western Province, which encompasses the nation’s capital Colombo, will also be subject to an indefinite curfew, according to police, in an effort to quell the mounting protests that followed Rajapaksa’s flight to the Maldives in a military jet.
Police used tear gas to stop thousands of protesters from overrunning the property after they surrounded the premier’s office. He claimed that they had been told to take harsh action against demonstrators who were interfering with government operations.
#WATCH | Sri Lanka: Protestors come to each other's aid as tear-gas shots were fired at them by the security forces outside Sri Lankan PM's residence in Colombo pic.twitter.com/U3NzTDufWf
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2022
On Saturday, tens of thousands of men and women stormed Rajapaksa’s official mansion, forcing him to flee to a military installation. He had pledged to step down on Wednesday, according to officials.
