Thousands of protesters have stormed the prime minster’s house in the capital of Colombo and set it on fire today, hours after he said he would resign when a new government is formed, in the biggest day of angry demonstrations on Saturday that also saw crowds storming the president’s home and office.
Protesters have set the Prime Minister’s residence on fire and broken into the President’s home, hours after the Prime Minister he said he would resign over a worsening economic crisis. In videos on social media, red smoke can be seen rising into the sky, as flames take hold.
The office of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the protesters forced their way into his Colombo home on Saturday evening. It’s not immediately clear if he was inside at the time of the attack. He said earlier that he will resign only when all parties have agreed on a new government.
He was responding to a call by leaders of political parties represented in Parliament that he and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa quit, after tens of thousands of people trooped to the capital to vent their fury at the leaders they hold responsible for the nation’s worst economic and political crisis.
