Sri Lanka imposes curfew in Colombo
Sri Lanka's main city, Colombo, was calm on Thursday as people waited for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
The Sri Lanka government imposed a curfew in Colombo from 12pm on Thursday.
According to a government statement issued in this regard, the curfew will remain in place till 5am on Friday (15 July).
Read more: Troops patrol streets as calm returns to Sri Lanka, president's resignation awaited
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Meanwhile, the country's army said soldiers were authorised to use necessary force to prevent any destruction of property and life.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe earlier demanded the evacuation of state buildings and instructed security forces to do "what is necessary to restore order".
Later on Thursday, anti-government protesters announced that they will vacate key buildings they have overrun.
"We are peacefully withdrawing from the Presidential Palace, the Presidential Secretariat and the Prime Minister's Office with immediate effect, but will continue our struggle," a spokeswoman said.
A top Buddhist monk supporting the campaign had earlier called for the more than 200-years-old presidential palace to be handed back to authorities and ensure its valuable art and artefacts were preserved.
Protests against the economic crisis have simmered for months and came to a head last weekend when hundreds of thousands of people took over government buildings in Colombo, blaming the powerful Rajapaksa family and allies for runaway inflation, shortages and corruption.
Sri Lanka's main city, Colombo, was calm on Thursday as people waited for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled to the Maldives to escape a popular uprising that erupted as the country struggles with an economic crisis.
The 73-year-old leader boarded a Saudi Airlines plane today and left the Maldives for Singapore, from where he will head to Saudi Arabia, the Associated Press reported.
The area around parliament was deserted on Thursday morning. Police manned a barricade on the approach road. Nearby, life returned to normal, with shops open and plenty of cars on the road.
The night before, an intersection there was packed with several hundred protesters and ambulances regularly ferried the injured out of the area.
According to a BBC report, hospital officials have said that one person died and 84 others were injured after protests rocked the city on Wednesday
The 26-year-old man reportedly died after developing breathing difficulties when forces opened tear gas to control the situation.
