Hundreds of protesters tried to storm the president's home in a night of violence and anger at a dire economic crisis, as the South Asian nation reels from severe shortages of essentials, sharp price rises and crippling power cuts in its most painful downturn since independence in 1948
A soldier guards an area next to a burnt-out bus near the Sri Lankan president's home in Colombo on April 1, 2022. - Security forces were deployed across the Sri Lankan capital on April 1 after protesters tried to storm the president's home in anger at the nation's worst economic crisis since independence. (Credit: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP)