Protesters storm Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, hours after the embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country, forced out by a popular uprising that has targeted the top leadership over the country’s dire economic crisis. Rajapaksa went to the Maldives just before dawn Wednesday on a military aircraft with his wife, four days after he went into hiding, as protesters, furious over his refusal to step down, overran his residence and office. But Rajapaksa’s exit did not appease protesters, who were incensed he had named Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, seen as a close ally, as acting president.
In Pictures: Sri Lanka in Crisis
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Demonstrators throw bottles of water to army personnel during an anti-government protest outside the office of Sri Lanka's prime minister in Colombo, July 13, 2022.
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Protesters storm the building of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office in Colombo, July 13, 2022.
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Sri Lankan army soldiers try to take out the protesters who stormed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe 's office in Colombo, July 13, 2022.
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A protester sits on a chair surrounded by others after storming Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office in Colombo, July 13, 2022.