Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence shortly before protesters, angered by an unprecedented economic crisis, stormed and overran the compound.
Reports say he was moved to a safer location.
“The president was escorted to safety,” a senior defence source told AFP. “He is still the president, he is being protected by a military unit.”
Demonstrators from all over the country marched to Colombo demanding his resignation after months of protests over mismanagement of the country’s economic crisis.
The country is suffering rampant inflation and is struggling to import food, fuel and medicine.
Thousands of anti-government protesters travelled to the capital, with officials telling reporters that some had even “commandeered” trains to get there.
They swarmed into Colombo’s government district, shouting slogans such as “Gota go home!” and breaking through several police barricades to reach President Rajapaksa’s house.
Police fired shots in the air and used tear gas to try to prevent angry crowds from overrunning the residence, but were unable to stop some of the crowd from entering.
Livestream footage from inside the building showed hundreds of protesters packing into rooms and corridors, while hundreds also milled around the grounds outside.
Protesters at a different location also managed to enter the president’s office, which has been the focus of demonstrations for months.
At least 33 people, including members of the security forces, were injured and were being treated at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo, a hospital spokesperson told the BBC Sinhala service.
Authorities had attempted to stop the demonstration from taking place by imposing a curfew on Friday night.
However, protesters were undeterred, and the curfew was lifted after civil society groups and opposition parties strongly objected to it.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe summoned an emergency meeting of leaders of Sri Lanka’s political parties to discuss the crisis. He is also asking the Speaker to convene parliament.
Protesters have been seeking the removal of president Rajapaksa, along with his brothers, former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa. While Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned his post in May, Basil Rajapaksa quit last month.
However, it was too late for the Sri Lankan economy by then.
First, in May, the country defaulted on its external debt. By last week, it had fuel stock to last only a day. On July 5, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s successor, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, declared that the island nation was “bankrupt.”