Sri Lanka to investigate after anti-government protests turn deadly

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said on Wednesday he expects the police to properly investigate clashes with anti-government protesters that led to the first death in weeks of civil unrest over an economic crisis.

Police fired live ammunition to scatter protesters on Tuesday in Rambukkana town, northeast of the commercial capital Colombo, killing one person and wounding a dozen.

Demonstrations have roiled the South Asian island nation of 22 million people for weeks, with people infuriated by what they see as the government's mishandling of the economy that has led to shortages of fuel and other items and brought prolonged power cuts.

The shooting broke out after protesters blocked a railway line and stopped a fuel tanker attempting to cross it, residents and a government minister said on Wednesday.

"Deeply distressed following the tragedy in Rambukkana," Rajapaksa said on Twitter. "I have every confidence that a strict, impartial investigation will be carried out."

Rambukkana was calm on Wednesday with minimal security on the streets. A four-member police forensics team combed the area around the railway crossing where the clash took place.

Police also cordoned off part of a petrol station where violence also flared, including a small dusty, blood-stained patch. Rocks, ammunition casings and spent tear gas canisters were strewn about.

"One hundred percent, the responsibility is with the police," resident Indika Priyantha Kumara, 50, told Reuters.

"You can't blame the people," said Kumara, who had a bandage on his forehead for an injury he said was sustained in the clash.

The director of the Kegalle Teaching Hospital said 14 people were brought in and one died of his injuries. Three were in intensive care after surgery.

"We suspect gunshot injuries," director Mihiri Priyangani told Reuters.

Twenty policemen were also brought in but had been transferred to a facility in the nearby town of Kandy, she said.

Public security minister Prasanna Ranatunga told parliament the shooting happened after protesters tried to set fire to the tanker.

"Police acted according to the law," he said. "This shooting happened after police did everything they could to bring this situation under control. We will conduct multiple investigations."

Tuesday's death was the first in the largely peaceful protests that began last month.

It comes as Sri Lankan officials meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to discuss an emergency loan programme to tackle the shortage of fuel and other essentials.

The IMF said the discussions were at an early stage and any deal would require "adequate assurances" that Sri Lanka could resolve its unsustainable debt situation.