Sri Lanka Crisis: Former PM Mahinda Rajapaksa 'evacuated' from burning home; death toll rises to 8

Former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had to be rescued by heavily armed troops from his official residence in Colombo this morning after thousands of protesters stormed the main gates.

On Monday, government supporters clashed violently with protesters in the capital Colombo outside Mahinda Rajapaksa's Temple Trees residence, and then at the main protest site at Galle Face Green.

The former PM has been moved to an undisclosed location, officials told AFP.

Angry mobs in Sri Lanka burned down several homes belonging to the ruling Rajapaksas and MPs, after they were attacked by government supporters.

The violence capped a day of unrest that saw PM Mahinda Rajapaksa quit amid mass protests at his government's handling of the economic crisis.

But it failed to calm demonstrators, who attempted to storm his official residence while he was still inside.

The attacks on government figures came in apparent reprisal for an incident just hours before Rajapaksa's resignation.

Police had fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse skirmishers after the prime minister's supporters, many armed with iron bars, stormed a camp of those protesting against the government, beating them and setting fire to their tents.

The death toll rose to eight on Tuesday in the unprecedented violence in Sri Lanka, reported PTI.

Over 200 people have also been injured in the violence in Colombo and other cities.

Mahinda Rajapaksa, 76, resigned as Sri Lankan Prime Minister on Monday amid unprecedented economic turmoil, hours after his supporters attacked anti-government protesters, prompting authorities to impose a nationwide curfew and deploy Army troops in the capital.

The violence saw arson attacks on the homes of several politicians, including the ancestral home of the Rajapaksas in Hambantota.

Video footage showed the entire house of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his younger brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Medamulana in Hambantota city was burning.

Prime Minister Mahinda's House in Kurunegala was also set on fire by protesters while a mob also destroyed D A Rajapaksa Memorial - constructed in the memory of the father of Mahinda and Gotabaya - in Medamulana, Hambantota.

An island-wide curfew has been extended to Wednesday morning as authorities seek to quell the violence.

Many are still calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brother of Mahinda, to leave office, following weeks of escalating demonstrations over soaring prices and power cuts since last month.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948, and people are furious because the cost of living has become unaffordable.

The country's foreign currency reserves have virtually run dry, and people can no longer afford essential items including food, medicines and fuel.

The government has requested emergency financial help. It blames the Covid pandemic, which all but killed off Sri Lanka's tourist trade - one of its biggest foreign currency earners. But many experts say economic mismanagement is also to blame.