Sri Lanka police shot dead one man and wounded 10 others on Tuesday in the first fatal clash with demonstrators protesting the island nation’s crippling economic crisis.
The island nation is in the grip of its most painful economic downturn since independence in 1948, with severe shortages of essential goods such as fuel and regular blackouts causing widespread misery.
Huge protests have called for the resignation of the government, which is preparing to negotiate an urgently needed bailout with the International Monetary Fund.
Police fired live rounds at a crowd that had blockaded a highway in the central town of Rambukkana to protest oil shortages and high prices, hospital and police officials told AFP.
The protest was one of many spontaneous gatherings staged around Sri Lanka on Tuesday, after the country’s main petrol retailer hiked prices by nearly 65 percent.
Source: https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220419-first-killing-by-police-in-sri-lanka-protests
