Sri Lanka Imposes State of Emergency After President Flees Country

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—Sri Lanka’s president fled the country and appointed the prime minister as acting leader, the speaker of parliament said, as protesters rushed into the prime minister’s office and the island was placed on a state of emergency.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksalift Sri Lanka in the early hours of Wednesday with his wife and two bodyguards on a military plane en route to the Maldives, the country’s air force and an immigration official said. On that day he was to officially step down to make way for an all-party interim government. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has also announced his resignation.