Lanka police open fire at people protesting fuel price hike, 1 dead

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police opened fire on Tuesday at a group of people protesting new fuel price increases, killing one and injuring 12 others, in the first shooting by security forces during weeks of demonstrations over the country’s worst economic crisis in decades. Police confirmed that they shot at the protesters in Rambukkana, 90km northeast of Colombo, the capital. Police spokesman Nihal Talduwa said the demonstrators were blocking railway tracks and roads and had ignored police warnings to disperse. Dr. Mihiri Priyangani of the government hospital in Kegalle said 11 people were brought there with suspected gunshot wounds and one had died. Two were undergoing surgery, she said. Sri Lanka is on the brink of bankruptcy, with nearly $7 billion of its total $25 billion in foreign debt due for repayment this year. A severe shortage of foreign exchange means the country lacks money to buy imported goods. People have endured months of shortages of essentials such as food, cooking gas, fuel and medicine, lining up for hours to buy the very limited stocks available.