Sri Lanka has declared a state of emergency as protesters continue to express mounting anger over a crippling economic crisis.
The president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled to the Maldives on a military jet hours before he promised to resign on Wednesday, following days of protesters storming government offices over a crippling economic crisis.
The air force confirmed that Rajapaksa, his wife and two security guards boarded a military aircraft in the early hours of Wednesday morning and arrived in the Maldives at 3am.
“Under the provisions of the constitution and on a request by the government, the Sri Lanka air force provided a plane early today to fly the president, his wife and two security officials to the Maldives,” a statement said.
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The island nation has been grappling with an economic disaster for months that has triggered severe shortages of food and fuel and now civilians are demanding the ousting of the nation’s top leaders.
Now thousands of protesters are demanding that Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Prime Minister, also steps down.
On Wednesday, thousands rallied outside his office, scaling the walls and launching water bottles into the compound.
Rajapaksa appointed his prime minister, Wickremesinghe, as acting president in his absence, fuelling more dismay among Sri Lankans.
Protesters, activists and lawyers are calling for the Rajapaksa family to be prosecuted over alleged corruption and human rights abuses.
Despite the country plunging deeper into a financial crisis, President Rajapaksa has ignored calls to resign.
The country has been left without any foreign currency to import food, fuel and medicines — all of which Rajapaksa has been blamed for.
The family has denied the corruption allegations, but the President recognised that some of his policies contributed to the nation's disarray.
It was reported that police used tear gas on Wednesday to try to disperse the protesters but failed.
Protesters have said they will continue to occupy the official buildings until the top leaders are gone.
Over the weekend, images emerged of people flocking to the presidential palace, swimming in the pool, lounging on the beds and sitting in the office.
On Wednesday morning, a queue formed outside of the residence of people hoping to enter. It has been reported that many started travelling from outside the capital of Colombo on public transport to join the mayhem.
"If we don't hear of the resignation of the president and the prime minister by the evening, we may have to gather back and take over parliament or another government building," said Buddhi Prabodha Karunaratne, one of the organisers of recent protests.
He said they are strongly against the Gota-Ranil government.
"Protesters have no reason to storm the prime minister's office," Wickremesinghe said in a statement.
"They want to stop the parliamentary process. But we must respect the Constitution. So security forces have advised me to impose an emergency and a curfew. I'm working to do that."
Police stationed outside the prime minister's office fired several rounds of tear gas and a military helicopter briefly circled overhead, but protesters appeared undeterred and finally surged into the compound.
Wickremesinghe's team declined to reveal his whereabouts.
