Scenes outside palace in Colombo as Rajapaksa flees

Описание: (13 Jul 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Colombo - 13 July 2022
1. Various of people at the Sri Lankan presidential palace
STORYLINE:
People remained at presidential palace in Colombo on Wednesday morning, hours after reports Sri Lanka's president had fled the country.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards left aboard a Sri Lankan Air Force plane early Wednesday, bound for the city of Male, the capital of the Maldives, according to an immigration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
His departure comes days after protesters stormed his home and office and the official residence of the prime minister amid a three-month economic crisis that triggered severe shortages of food and fuel.
For days, people have flocked to the presidential palace almost as if it were a tourist attraction - swimming in the pool, marveling at the paintings and lounging on the beds piled high with pillows.
At one point, they also burned the prime minister's private home.
Protesters have vowed to occupy the official buildings until the top leaders are gone.
Rajapaksa had agreed to step down under pressure. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he would leave once a new government was in place.
Lawmakers agreed to elect a new president next week but struggled Tuesday to decide on the makeup of a new government to lift the bankrupt country out of economic and political collapse.
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