Sri Lankans celebrate resignation of president, leave PM's home as calm returns

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Sri Lankans danced in the streets of Colombo on Thursday evening as news that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had submitted his letter of resignation following protests over an economic crisis, that also saw calls for both Rajapaksa and the prime minister to resign.

"The whole country celebrate(s) today," Damitha Abeyrathne, one of the protesters, said. "It's a big victory."

The letter of resignation was submitted late Thursday and is expected to become official Friday, once it was legally verified, according to a spokesperson for the parliamentary speaker. Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives Wednesday before flying to Singapore on Thursday.

His decision to make Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe the acting president also triggered more protests, with demonstrators storming parliament and the premier's office. However, on Thursday, some who had taken up space in the prime minister's office began to leave.

The government had also imposed a curfew in Colombo from noon local time until early morning Friday to try and prevent further unrest, though, with the news of the president's departure, many broke the curfew to celebrate.