2 dead in Sri Lanka waiting for fuel as Govt runs out of money to buy oil

Sri Lanka Crisis Latest News: Two 70-year-olds died waiting in queue for fuel as economic crisis worsens for the island nation with soaring prices and the govt running out of foreign reserves to pay for imports.

Colombo police said the two senior citizens died waiting in serpentine queues in different parts of the city as they like many others were hoping to get fuel as the country faces acute shortage.

For weeks people have been queuing up at pumps, often for hours, and the country has been under rolling power cuts. In early March Sri Lanka announced nationwide seven-and-a-half hour daily power cuts.

Prices for cooking gas were raised by $4 (1300 rupees in local currency) over the weekend, while the largest refinery announced a closure as they ran out of fuel.

Sri Lanka is grappling with 25% food inflation and empty foreign reserve coffers leaving the nation in a dire state.