Police Kill Protester as Sri Lanka Austerity Anger Escalates
- Police fired live rounds on angry crowds in central Sri Lanka
- Protesters demand the resignation of President Rajapaksa
WATCH: Sri Lanka Needs Constitutional, Economic Reforms, Opposition Leader Premadasa Says
Source: Bloomberg
Sri Lanka’s police killed at least one person and wounded several others when they opened fire on protesters, news reports said Tuesday, the first fatality since demonstrations began roiling the nation over Asia’s fastest inflation and shortages of essential goods.
Officers fired live rounds in the Rambukkana area in central Sri Lanka after tear gas failed to dispel a group of protesters who had blocked a train track and tried to set fire to a diesel truck, the police media unit in capital Colombo said by phone. Agence France-Presse and several local media reported that one person was killed in the clash, citing police and hospital sources.