Sri Lankan president finally manages to flee to Maldives

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, in an image from 2019. ISHARA S. KODIKARA (AFP)

The President of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, left Sri Lanka early this Wednesday (local time) aboard a military plane bound for the Maldives.

The 73-year-old leader had unsuccessfully tried to escape on Tuesday from a popular revolt against the worst economic crisis the country is experiencing since independence, which has culminated in the seizure of the presidential palace in Colombo by the population.

Rajapaksa, his wife and an escort have left the international airport of Colombo, the country's former capital, in an Antonov-32 military plane guarded by the air force.

According to airport sources, the plane has remained on the airport runway for an hour waiting for permission to land in the Maldives.

"There have been moments of tension, but everything has gone well," said this source.

Hours earlier, Rajapaksa's attempt to leave the country had been humiliatingly rejected by airport immigration agents, who denied him special authorization to have his documents stamped in the airport's VIP lounge.

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