Mahinda Rajapaksa, family takes shelter in naval base, surrounded by protesters

Sri Lanka's former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family have taken shelter at a naval base at the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee district, as deadly protests continue amid the country's worst-ever economic crisis, NDTV reports.

The former prime minister and his family were flown to the naval installation in a helicopter, people with direct knowledge of the matter told NDTV. They said protests have broken out outside the naval base too, some 270km from the capital Colombo.

After five people were killed in the deadliest violence yesterday over the unprecedented economic crisis, Sri Lanka deployed thousands of army and police personnel to enforce a curfew today, the report said.

Yesterday, about 200 people were injured as Rajapaksa resigned, but this did little to assuage public outrage.