PHOTOS – Sri Lanka: Rioters Burn Down Prime Minister's House, 150+ Hospitalized, Lawmaker Killed

Local media outlets reported on Monday night local time that over 150 people had been hospitalized and several found dead, including a member of Parliament, in Sri Lanka following a violent mob attack on a protester encampment in the capital, Colombo.

Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror has published multiple shocking videos of the homes of ministers, members of parliament, former government officials, and the most powerful person in the country, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, completely engulfed in flames. Rajapaksa announced his resignation before his house was set on first on Monday.

Sri Lanka has been experiencing months of protests – most of them peaceful prior to Monday – in response to the worst economic crisis in its history. The country, a democratic socialist republic, is facing all-consuming shortages of gasoline, good, medicine, and nearly every basic good. Government policies under Rajapaksa, who was president from 2005 to 2015, and his brother, current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resulted in a major debt default that handed over its key Hambantota port to China and over-reliance on importing food and that caused major shortages triggered in part by the war between Russia and Ukraine. Gotabaya Rajapaksa exacerbated shortages by banning chemical fertilizers for farmers, limiting the domestic food supply.

The Rajapaksa family is the country’s most powerful, seizing dozens of government posts after Mahinda helped end the 26-year-old civil war during his tenure as president. At their peak, the Rajapaksas controlled about 40 public offices.

In response to the crisis, protesters had established an encampment in Colombo known as “Occupy Galle Face,” after the government office neighborhood where it was located. Protesters there had convened for largely peaceful events since Occupy Galle Face was established on April 8. On Monday, however, supporters of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his political party, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), attacked the camp, beating protesters with sticks and burning down tents and other makeshift establishments.

“An unruly group of SLPP supporters today (May 09) attacked the GotaGoGama anti-government protest site set up at the Galle Face Green. They caused havoc, assaulting the peaceful protesters at the site while destroying their tents and other properties in the area,” the Sri Lankan news site Ada Derana narrated. “The SLPP supporters had staged a demonstration near the Temple Trees this morning urging Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa not to resign from his position. Following an audience with the prime minister, they also assaulted the anti-government protesters engaged in a peaceful protest near Temple Trees.”

Demonstrators and government supporters clash outside the official residence of Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, in Colombo on May 9, 2022. (ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Dramatic scenes erupted of police attempting to hold back mobs armed with sticks while bloodied anti-government protesters attempted to protect themselves. Some protesters attempted to collect the injured and transfer them to hospitals. By Monday evening local time, the Daily Mirror reported that 157 people had been admitted into Colombo National Hospitals with injuries resulting from the attack.

Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned shortly thereafter.

The move appeared to do little to calm the country, however, as protesters began retaliating for the violence by SLPP supporters by burning down the homes of lawmakers and others. Mahinda Rajapaksa’s mansion appeared to be completely engulfed in flames on Monday night.

The Daily Mirror published other videos of fires at the homes of various lawmakers and the destruction of both the Rajapaksa family home and a monument to D.A. Rajapaksa, the president and now-former prime minister’s father.

At least one member of the Sri Lankan Parliament died on Monday, SLPP lawmaker Amarakeerthi Athukorala. The circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear at press time.

“Following the attacks on the two main protest sites, SLPP Polonnaruwa District MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala’s vehicle was mobbed by a group when it reached Nittambuwa on Monday (9) afternoon. Following an altercation, shots were fired, and the MP died,” Sri Lanka’s News First reported. “Moreover, a 27-year-old male also died in the shooting, said the Director of the Wathupitiwala Hospital.”

Some reports indicated that Athukorala committed suicide after opening fire on protesters after being surrounded by thousands of people, though officials have not verified this version of events.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been largely absent from leadership during the ongoing violence on Monday, posting a message on Twitter urging citizens to end the violence.

“I strongly condemn the violent acts taking place … irrespective of political allegiances,” the president’s account posted on Twitter.

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