Thousands queue for petrol in Sri Lanka

Thousands of people queued for cooking gas and petrol in Sri Lanka's commercial capital on Friday and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe warned of a food shortage as the island nation battles a devastating economic crisis, reports Reuters.

Lines formed in many parts of Colombo, a city of around 900,000 people, as residents tried to stock up on fuel, which is mostly imported and is in extremely short supply with the government running out of foreign exchange.

"Only about 200 cylinders were delivered, even though there were about 500 people," said Mohammad Shazly, a part-time chauffeur in a queue for the third day in the hope of procuring cooking gas for his family of five. Hundreds of others were in line, with empty cylinders by their side."Without gas, without kerosene oil, we can't do anything," Shazly said. "Last option what? Without food we are going to die. That will happen hundred percent."

Tourism-dependent Sri Lanka, where India and China jostle for influence, is facing a dire shortage of foreign exchange, fuel and medicines, and economic activity has slowed to a crawl.Public transport is depleted and traffic is light as most people are staying at home because of the scarcity of petrol.