The video, viral on social media, showed thousands marching towards the Presidential palace chanting slogans against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, surrounding his official residence, breaking the barricades before storming into it.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SRI LANKA | TOP POINTS
While the anti-government protests in Sri Lanka demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation over the government's handling of the economic crisis have been going on since the beginning of this year, the protests have recently turned violent.
The discontent among the citizens of Sri Lanka worsened when the cash-strapped country stopped receiving fuel shipments, forcing school closures and rationing of petrol and diesel for essential services, plunging it into the worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
Many blame the country's decline on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and have demanded his resignation.
On Tuesday, thousands of protesters stormed into the President's official residence, shouting slogans against him and the government.
A Facebook livestream from inside the President's house showed hundreds of protesters, some draped in flags, packing into rooms and corridors, shouting slogan's against Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Using a shortened version of the President's name 'Gota', protesters carried black and national flags and marched raising the slogan, "Gota go home". A Reuters report said that the protesters also marched towards police and military security cordon surrounding key buildings.
Several reports have said that Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled after protesters surrounded his palace. However, Reuters quoted defence sources as saying that Gotabaya Rajapaksa was removed from the official residence on Friday itself ahead of the planned rally.
On Saturday, police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters but couldn't stop the angry protesters as they marched into the President's palace. Some reports said that police opened fire to quell the protests this morning and to prevent protesters from entering the colonial-era building.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Prime Minister has summoned an emergency meeting of political party leaders after protesters stormed the President's house amid growing anger over the government's handling of an economic crisis.
The country recently shut schools and urged its citizens to work from home to save fuel. A top minister said that Sri Lanka is struggling to raise $587 million to pay for about half a dozen fuel shipments.
In May, protesters had set fire to Gotabaya Rajapaksa's ancestral home. Several videos showed the entire house burning as the anti-government protesters hooted.
