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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A protester helps another after police fired teargas to disperse them before they stormed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office in Colombo, July 13, 2022.

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Protesters storm the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office in Colombo, July 13, 2022.

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Demonstrators break the gate of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe's office during a protest demanding for his resignation in Colombo, July 13, 2022.

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Army soldiers are caught in tear smoke with protesters storming the compound of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office in Colombo, July 13, 2022