Gotabaya Rajapaksa en route to Singapore, then Saudi Arabia

Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has left Maldives after fleeing his own country amid an economic collapse.

He boarded a Saudi Airlines plane that will take him to Singapore and then to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a Maldives government officials said Thursday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka early Wednesday as protesters were taking over government buildings to demand his resign.