April 19, 2022, marked a turning point in Sri Lanka's economic crisis as police shot dead a protester and wounded 24 others in the first fatal clash with residents demonstrating against the government.
The island nation is facing its most painful economic downturn since independence in 1948, with regular blackouts and severe shortages of fuel and other goods causing widespread misery.
Protests have been ongoing for weeks, with demonstrators calling for the resignation of the government, which is preparing to negotiate an urgently needed bailout with the International Monetary Fund.
Police fired live rounds at a crowd that had blockaded a railway line and highway connecting the capital Colombo with the central city of Kandy to protest oil shortages and high prices.
“One man died of gunshot injuries,” a hospital official told AFP by telephone.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa acknowledged public anger over the ruling family's mismanagement, saying, “People are suffering because of the economic crisis and I deeply regret it.”
Sri Lanka is seeking three to four billion dollars from the IMF to overcome its balance-of-payments crisis and boost depleted reserves.
