A 53-year-old man died Tuesday in the western Sri Lankan city of Aluthgama while queuing for oil, which has been heavily rated in the country since March due to the severe financial crisis, Sri Lanka’s News First website reported on Wednesday.
Detailing the June 29 incident, News First wrote:
Another Sri Lankan family lost a breadwinner waiting in line for fuel. The 53-year-old father died last night after being hit by a truck while waiting for fuel in Darga town of Aluthgama. [June 28].
The report says he was about to get out of the gas station and go home when tragedy struck. The driver of the truck that was going to Matugama this morning surrendered to the police.
At least 11 people have died while waiting in fuel lines in Sri Lanka since the beginning of March, the Associated Press (AP) reported on June 30.
“The latest of these was a 63-year-old man found dead in his car outside of Colombo. “Failing to find fuel, some stopped driving and took bicycles or public transport,” he said.
The AP also reported on Thursday that waiting times for fuel and cooking fuel in Sri Lanka have recently increased from a few hours to three days.
Citing an example of a gas station with a line called Chamila Nlanti, the news agency reported: “A 47-year-old mother of two stood in a kerosene queue in Sri Lanka’s Gampaha city, northeast of the capital Colombo, for three days. Two weeks ago, he was in line to cook gas for three days, but he came home empty-handed.”
“Ordinary Sri Lankans, especially the poor… Wait a few days to prepare gas and oil lines that may extend more than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). Like Chamila Nlanti, they sometimes come home empty-handed,” AP said.
Sri Lanka’s fuel pipelines are an unfortunate aspect of the country’s ongoing financial crisis, which began in early March and has been described as its worst slowdown shortly after the island gained independence from Britain in 1948.
Due to a combination of economy mismanagement by the country’s socialist government and unusual financial restraints related to China’s coronavirus pandemic, Sri Lanka began to run short of foreign exchange reserves earlier this year. Located on the south coast of India in the Indian Ocean, the tropical island nation has traditionally relied on foreign exchange reserves to import most of its major commodities. By March, Colombo’s ability to purchase essentials such as food, fuel, and medicine began to decline, leading to food shortages.
Sri Lanka has been waiting for possible assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 30 June, according to the AP.
Source: Breitbart
