Sri Lanka crisis: Protesters torch several leaders' homes, MP killed, outgoing PM Mahinda Rajapaksa evacuated by troops (VIDEO)

Colombo: The former prime minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa was evacuated by heavily armed troops from his official residence in Colombo on Tuesday after thousands of protesters broke through the main gate.

Protesters after forcing their way into the “Temple Trees” residence then attempted to storm the main two-storey building where Rajapaksa was holed up with his immediate family, but security officials fired tear gas shells and warning shots in the air to hold the marauding mob.

The former PM and his family were evacuated to safety by the army, after at least 10 petrol bombs were thrown into the compound.

Rajapaksa and his immediate family have been evacuated to an undisclosed location which follows a day of violent protests in which five people, including a lawmaker, were killed and nearly 200 others wounded.

Dozens of homes of top Rajapaksa loyalists were torched elsewhere in the curfew-bound country, which has been under a state of emergency since Friday. (UNI)