Lagatar24 Desk
Colombo, July 9: The residence of Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was stormed by thousands of demonstrators who scaled police barriers on Saturday.
#WATCH | Massive protests erupt in economic crisis-laden Sri Lanka as protesters amass at the President's Secretariat, who has reportedly fled the country.
(Source: unverified) pic.twitter.com/SvZeLGTvKG
— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2022
Amid flaring protests, Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has reportedly fled the country as reported by ANI.
According to local TV station NewsFirst, protesters brandishing Sri Lankan flags while wearing helmets broke into the President’s residents. Images of a crowd of demonstrators entering the President’s home’s swimming pool have surfaced.
The president was transported to a safe place, a high defence source informed AFP.
Earlier on Saturday, following challenges from opposition parties, rights advocates, and the bar association, the police lifted the curfew.
Protesters from all over the nation arrived in Colombo via buses, trains, and trucks to voice their fury at the government’s failure to shield people from financial collapse. A frequent truncated form of the president’s name “Gota go home” was yelled by protesters.
Reuters reports that during the protests, at least 21 people, including two police officers, were hurt and sent to the hospital.
16 members of parliament from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s party, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, have asked him to step down immediately.
The current economic crisis in Sri Lanka is among the worst that the nation has ever experienced. Since March, demonstrations have called for the president to step down.
