Sri Lanka battles worst economic crisis

Sri Lanka ordered troops to petrol stations as sporadic protests erupted among the thousands of motorists queueing up daily for scarce fuel.

The South Asian island nation is grappling with its worst economic meltdown in over seven decades, with rolling electricity blackouts and essential goods such as food and cooking gas also in short supply.

Soldiers were deployed after angry crowds blocked a main artery in Colombo and held up traffic for hours because they were unable to buy kerosene oil on Monday, government spokesman Ramesh Pathirana said.

Footage of the incident shared on social media showed a group of angry women blockading a tourist coach to protest shortages of kerosene needed for cooking stoves

We saw tourists being held up, we are also hearing that some people may be hoarding oil and that is why the government decided to deploy the military, Pathirana told reporters in the capital.

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