Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his official residence in Colombo on Saturday minutes before it was stormed by thousands of angry protesters, a defense source told AFP.
Private channel Sirasa TV showed footage of crowds storming into the heavily guarded presidential palace.
The Defense source indicated that Gotabaya Rajapaksa was still the President of the country and that he was protected by the army in an undisclosed location.
The island nation is suffering from an unprecedented shortage of basic necessities and its 22 million people have endured runaway inflation and prolonged power cuts since the start of the year.
For months, protesters have camped outside the presidential headquarters in Colombo to demand the resignation of the president, whom they accuse of mismanagement.