Thousands storm Sri Lankan president's palace
Thousands of Sri Lankan protesters stormed into the president's official residence in Colombo on Saturday, demanding his resignation as public anger grows over the country's worst economic crisis in seven decades. Soldiers and police were unable to hold back the crowd of chanting protesters, who also forced their way through heavy metal gates into the Finance Ministry and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's sea-front offices. Rajapaksa left the official residence on Friday as a safety precaution ahead of the planned weekend demonstration, two defence ministry sources said. Reuters could not immediately confirm the president's whereabouts. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe held talks with several political party leaders and they were due to convene a meeting organised by parliament's speaker to decide what steps to take following the unrest. Wickremesinghe has also been moved to a secure location, a government source said. A Facebook livestream from inside the president's house showed hundreds of protesters, some draped in the national flag, packing into rooms and corridors. Video footage showed some of them splashing in the swimming pool while others sat on a four-poster bed and sofas. Some could be seen emptying out a chest of drawers in images that were widely circulated on social media. Hundreds milled about in the grounds of the colonial-era white-washed presidential residence, with no security officials in sight. At least 39 people, including two police officers, were injured and hospitalised during the protests, hospital sources said. The Indian Ocean island of 22 million people is struggling under a severe foreign exchange shortage that has limited essential imports of fuel, food and medicine, plunging it into the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. Soaring inflation, which reached a record 54.6 percent in June and is expected to hit 70 percent in the coming months, has heaped hardship on the population. (Reuters)