Sri Lanka crisis: Protests continue amid fuel shortage
Sri Lankan opposition members demonstrate against the government on April 19, 2022 in Colombo.
AP - Eranga Jayawardena
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
An acute fuel shortage in Sri Lanka sparked spontaneous protests across the island on Tuesday (April 19th) where tens of thousands of angry motorists torched tires and blocked roads, according to police and local authorities.
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Police used live ammunition against a group blocking a highway in Rambukkana in the center of the country to protest acute oil shortages and high prices, hospital and police officials said.
"
A man died of gunshot wounds
," a hospital official told AFP by telephone.
Sixteen other protesters were injured, eight of whom required emergency surgery, while eight police officers were also injured.
Sri Lanka is in the grip of
its worst economic crisis
since its independence in 1948, with severe shortages of essential goods and regular power cuts.
Huge protests have called for the resignation of the government as it prepares to negotiate an urgent bailout with the International Monetary Fund, from which it seeks $3 billion to $4 billion.
Sri Lanka announced on April 12 that it would default on its $51 billion foreign debt.
The government needs dollars in order to be able to finance its imports of fuel, among other essential products.
Events all over the island
On Tuesday, spontaneous demonstrations erupted across the island where, according to police and local authorities, tens of thousands of angry motorists torched tires and blocked roads to protest fuel shortages and rising fuel prices. price.
The country's main fuel distributor, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), has increased its prices by 64.2%, and the private distributor Lanka IOC, which represents a third of the fuel market, by 35%.
These demonstrations by motorists took place alongside the one taking place in Colombo, for the eleventh day in a row, calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa due to
the worsening economic crisis
.
Doctors at the country's main children's hospital also protested outside the facility on Tuesday demanding medicine and medical equipment.
In an attempt to defuse the crisis, President Rajapaksa appointed a new government on Monday from which two of his brothers and a nephew were dismissed.
However, he kept his elder brother and clan leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as prime minister.
Dozens of deputies from Rajapaksa's coalition changed sides and took their places on the opposition benches in Parliament on Tuesday.
(
With
AFP)
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