Sri Lanka Crisis: Police Fire Tear Gas As Thousands Of Protesters Storm PM's Office | IN PICS

Protests in Sri Lanka

Massive protests rocked Sri Lanka on Wednesday as agitators gathered outside the Prime Minister's office and residence in Colombo, prompting Wickremesinghe to declare a state of emergency in the country. Army personnel had to use tear gas to disperse demonstrators outside the office of PM. (Image: AFP)

The protesters broke through a barricade despite tear gas and stormed the prime minister's office, demanding his resignation. Earlier, Wickremesinghe had said he would resign and make way for an all-party government to take over. (Image: AFP)

Thousands of anti-government protesters stormed Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office, hours after he was named as acting president after Gotabaya Rajapaksa along with his wife fled to the Maldives. (Image: AFP)

According to a statement from the Sri Lanka Air Force, Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew to the Maldives with his wife and two security officials. They arrived in the capital Male at around 3 am on Wednesday, BBC reported. (Image: AFP)

The image shows army soldiers standing guard during massive anti-government protests outside the office of Sri Lanka's prime minister in Colombo. As per PTI, the protesters continue to occupy the three main buildings in the capital, the President’s House, the presidential secretariat and the prime minister’s official residence, Temple Trees, calling for their resignations. (Image: AFP)

A man waves Sri Lanka's national flag outside presidential secretariat in Colombo on Wednesday. Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is under the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, leaving millions struggling to buy food, medicine, fuel and other essentials. (Image: AFP)