The Latest Breaking News from Sri Lanka

State of emergency declared as protesters reject premier Ranil Wickremesinghe acting as president and demand he and Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign

The 73-year-old Sri Lankan President reportedly fled the country along with his wife and two security officers on a military jet on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka's parliamentary speaker had yet to receive President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's resignation letter though he has fled the country, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka's economic crisis looks to have finally toppled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka's Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who oversaw a ruthless crushing of Tamil Tiger guerrillas to end a long-running civil war and went on to become president, had been due to step down on Wednesday to appease a population angry over several tumultuous months of economic and political crisis.

It follows months of protests over Sri Lanka's economic crisis.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his wife flew to the Maldives on a military plane early on Wednesday morning.

The Rajapaksa dynasty dominated Sri Lankan politics until April when street protests against fuel and food shortages began to slip out of control. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country early on Wednesday, leaving no one from the once- illustrious family in a position of power.

A deep financial crisis has left Sri Lanka struggling to pay for imports of food, medicine and fuel and brought thousands of protesters on to the streets.