Sri Lankan protesters demanding the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa have forced their way into his official residence and nearby office, as thousands of people took to the streets of the capital Colombo decrying the nation’s worst economic crisis in recent memory.
It is not clear if Mr Rajapaksa was at the residence in Colombo, but footage filmed on mobile phones showed a large number of people inside the well-fortified house and on the grounds outside.
Hundreds of protesters, some carrying national flags, also entered the president’s office in a nearby building.
Protesters blame Mr Rajapaksa for the economic woes and they have occupied the entrance to his office building for the past three months calling on him to step down.
Video posted on social media showed hundreds of protesters running into the president’s residence, chanting “Gota go home”, calling the president by his nickname. Outside the building, barricades were overturned.
At the president’s office, security personnel tried to stop protesters who passed through the fences and stormed the colonial-era parliament building, which has been converted into his office.
At least 34 people including two police officers were injured in scuffles as protesters tried to enter the residence. Police fired tear gas at protesters.
Two of the injured are in a critical condition while others have sustained minor injuries, hospital officials said.
Thousands of protesters had entered Colombo from the suburbs earlier on Saturday after police lifted an overnight curfew.
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said last month that the country’s economy has collapsed. The government’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund have been complex because it has now entered talks as a bankrupt state.
In April, Sri Lanka announced it is suspending repaying foreign loans due to a foreign currency shortage. Its total foreign debt amounts to 51 billion US dollars (£42.4 billion), of which it must repay 28 billion (£23.3 billion) by the end of 2027.
US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung on Friday asked people to protest peacefully and called for the military and police “to grant peaceful protesters the space and security to do so”.
She said in a tweet: “Chaos & force will not fix the economy or bring the political stability that Sri Lankans need right now.”
The economic crisis has led to a heavy shortage of essentials like fuel, cooking gas and medicines, forcing people to stand in long queues to buy the limited supplies.
Months of protests have nearly dismantled the Rajapaksa political dynasty that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.
One of Mr Rajapaksa’s brothers resigned as prime minister last month, and two other brothers and a nephew quit their cabinet posts earlier, but Mr Rajapaksa has held on to power.
Mr Wickremesinghe took over as prime minister in May and protests temporarily waned in the hope he could find cash for the country’s urgent needs, but people now want him to resign saying he has failed to fulfil his promises.
