Sri Lanka leader flees as protesters storm home, office
Gulf Times
Police use a water canon to disperse demonstrators taking part in an anti-government protest demanding the resignation of Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the country's crippling economic crisis, in Colombo on July 8, 2022.
Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence on Saturday shortly before protesters, angered by an unprecedented economic crisis, overran the compound and stormed his nearby office.
Thousands of people had surrounded the leader's home to demand his resignation, blaming government mismanagement for a downturn that has subjected the island nation's 22 million people to months of bitter hardship.
As the crowd surged at the gates of the presidential palace, troops guarding the compound fired in the air to hold them back until Rajapaksa was safely removed.
"The president was escorted to safety," a top defence source told AFP on condition of anonymity. "He is still the president, he is being protected by a military unit."
