In Sri Lanka, protesters seized the presidential palace, the head of state was evacuated

Author:
Oleg Panfilovych
Date:

In Sri Lankaʼs largest city, Colombo, protesters seized the presidentʼs residence and are demanding his resignation.

The BBC writes about it.

The president was evacuated to a safe place, where he is under the protection of the naval forces, clashes between demonstrators and the police are taking place in the city.

Tens of thousands of people, including those who came to the city from other regions, take part in the protests. A curfew was announced in Colombo the day before, but no one is following it. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe called an emergency meeting of the leaders of Sri Lankaʼs political parties to discuss the crisis. He also asked the speaker to convene the parliament.

The reason for the protests was the rapid growth of inflation, which led to shortages of food, medicine and fuel, and constant power outages in the country.