Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled his official residence in Colombo, the country’s commercial capital, after protesters stormed the city on Saturday morning.
The protesters marched to his residence demanding his resignation after months of protests over his alleged mismanagement of the country’s economic crisis.
The country is suffering rampant inflation and is struggling to import food, fuel and medicine, BBC reported.
According to the report, Rajapaksa has been moved to a safer location.
Thousands of anti-government protesters travelled to the capital, and officials told reporters that some even ‘commandeered’ trains to get there.
They swarmed into Colombo’s government district, shouting slogans such as “Gota go home!” and breaking through several police barricades to reach President Rajapaksa’s house.
“The president was escorted to safety,” a senior defence source told AFP. “He is still the president; he is being protected by a military unit.”
Facebook footage of the invasion show some of the protesters swimming in the president’s pool.
