Vehicles wait in line for a fill-up outside a gas station in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 16, 2022. Sri Lankan Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera on Monday assured the public of adequate fuel in the country soon. Sri Lanka has been facing a severe fuel shortage, triggering almost daily power cuts in the past few months.(Photo: Xinhua)

Police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of students trying to storm the Sri Lankan president's home Sunday as the government offered an olive branch to demonstrators demanding his resignation.

Anti-riot squads used water cannon followed by tear gas, as furious protesters pulled down yellow iron barricades across a road leading to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo.

Nearby, thousands of men and women demonstrated for the 51st straight day outside Rajapaksa's seafront office, demanding he step down over the country's worst economic crisis since independence.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe went on national television on Sunday evening offering young protesters a greater say in how the country is administered.

"The youth are calling for a change in the existing system," Wickremesinghe said, laying out plans for 15 committees that would work with parliament to decide national policies.

The demonstrations led to tense scenes in Colombo, where authorities struggled to disperse large crowds and chemical irritants hung over the streets. 

Several men were seen picking up canisters spewing tear gas at the scene and throwing them back toward the police who fired them.

Female medical and science students joined the protests, with many running for cover when authorities unleashed water cannon.

Wickremesinghe is not from Rajapaksa's party, but was given the job after the president's elder brother Mahinda resigned as prime minister on May 9 following weeks of protests, and when no other legislator agreed to step in.

AFP