Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country, following mass protests over the island’s economic crisis

The President had been in hiding since crowds stormed his palace on Saturday.

Earlier, Gotabaya Rajapaksa was blocked from departing Sri Lanka after refusing to join a public queue at the Bandaranaike International Airport in order to have his passport checked by immigration.

His brother, the former Finance Minister, has also left the crisis-hit country.

Rajapaksa is due to formally leave office on Wednesday, after being forced to resign in the wake of months-long protests over the nation’s crippling economic crisis.

Protesters had demanded the president and his prime minister go over the island’s worsening economic crisis.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s younger brother was at first prevented from leaving the country but is now said to be heading to the US.

Sri Lanka defaults

Sri Lanka has defaulted on its debt for the first time in its history.

It comes after a 30-day grace period expired on Wednesday. The nation was forced to come up with 78 million dollars of unpaid debt interest payments.

Sri Lanka is struggling with its worst financial crisis in more than 70 years.

A debt default happens when governments are unable to meet some or all of their debt payments to creditors.

It can damage a country’s reputation with investors, and makes it harder to borrow the money it needs on international markets.