Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, the former finance minister, have fled Sri Lanka to the Maldives, away from popular protests. The Prime Minister also promised to resign on Wednesday. A decades-long political era is thus over.
The protesters in Colombo can not be stopped. After forcing the president into exile, the prime minister’s residence and office were also stormed.
The military has been ordered to do what is necessary to restore calm, but in many pictures from Colombo right now they are standing next to it as spectators.
This is what the demonstrators say about why they occupy and demonstrate – see the player above