President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled Sri Lanka on a military jet, amid mass protests over the Island’s economic crisis.
The country’s air force confirmed the 73-year-old flew to the Maldives with his wife and two security officials.
In his absence, he appointed Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, as acting president.
Mr Wickremesinghe has declared a state of emergency and regional curfew in the western province.
Mr Rajapaksa’s departure ended a family dynasty that has dominated Sri Lanka’s politics for the past two decades.
The president had been in hiding after crowds stormed his residence on Saturday, and had pledged to resign on Wednesday July 13.
A source told the BBC that Mr Rajapaksa will not remain in the Maldives and intends to travel on to a third country.
His brother, former Finance Minister, Basil Rajapaksa, has also left Sri Lanka and was said to be heading to the US.
As Sri Lankans awoke to the news, thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Colombo. Many gathered at Galle Face Green, the city’s main protest site. Some listened to fiery speeches at a makeshift stage set up for ordinary people to take the mic.
Punctuated by cries of “Victory to the struggle”, the rallying cry of the protest movement, speakers railed against a government and the leaders they felt had failed them.
Police fired tear gas to disperse a group of protesters near the prime minister’s office, but they managed to storm the office and other state buildings.
In an earlier televised address, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said he had ordered the military to do “whatever is necessary to restore order”.
“We can’t tear up our constitution. We can’t allow fascists to take over. We must end this fascist threat to democracy,” he said.
But many protesters say they will continue their demonstrations until both leaders have resigned from government.
Some demonstrators were furious about Mr Rajapaksa’s departure, seeing a lack of accountability.
“We don’t like it. We want to keep him. We want our money back! And we want to put all the Rajapaksas in an open prison where they can do farm work,” said protester, GP Nimal. -BBC
