Video: Men run with suitcases to navy ship as Sri Lankan President flees

Thousands of anti-government protestors stormed into the Sri Lankan president's official mansion and forced him to flee as they demanded his resignation.Videos showing luggage being put onto a Sri Lanka Navy ship have appeared on social media.

Local media claimed that the suitcases belonged to President Rajapaksa. The footage shows three men hurrying to the ship while carrying their luggage.

"The Harbour Master at the Colombo Port said that a group boarded the SLNS Sindurala and SLNS Gajabahu and left the port," News1 Channel reported.

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Prior to the anticipated weekend protest, Rajapaksa evacuated the official house on Friday, according to two sources in the defence ministry. The president's whereabouts could not be immediately confirmed by Reuters.

Hundreds of people could be seen walking past the presidential palace in a video that was live-streamed on social media. While others sat on sofas and four-poster beds, some of them could be seen splashing around in the pool in video footage. Images that were extensively shared on social media showed someone emptying out a chest of drawers.

Without a security guard in sight, hundreds of people wandered around the whitewashed presidential mansion's grounds.

The crisis started after Covid-19 severely damaged the economy's reliance on tourism and reduced remittances from foreign employees.

Excessive government debt, increased energy prices, and a prohibition on the import of artificial fertilisers last year that completely destroyed agriculture have all contributed to its aggravation. In November, the prohibition on fertilisers was lifted.

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