In Sri Lanka, as economic crisis worsens, two men die waiting in queue for fuel

Car homeowners wait in line to fill their tanks throughout an influence outage at a Ceylon Petroleum Company gasoline station in Nugegoda, Colombo, Sri Lanka February 24, 2022. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte/File Photograph

COLOMBO, March 20 (Reuters) – Sri Lankan police mentioned on Sunday two males collapsed and died whereas ready in separate queues to safe gasoline amid sky-rocketing costs resulting in document inflation.

The boys, of their seventies, died whereas they have been ready for petrol and kerosene oil in two completely different components of the nation, mentioned police spokesman Nalin Thalduwa in industrial capital Colombo.

For weeks individuals have been queuing up at pumps, typically for hours, and the nation has been below rolling energy cuts.

“One was a 70-year-old three-wheeler driver who was a diabetic and coronary heart affected person whereas the second was a 72-year-old, each had been ready in line for about 4 hours for gasoline oil,” Thalduwa mentioned.

On Sunday Sri Lanka suspended operations at its solely gasoline refinery after crude oil shares ran out, mentioned Ashoka Ranwala the president of the Petroleum Common Workers’ Union.

The vitality ministry couldn’t be instantly reached for a remark.

Use of kerosene oil has elevated after low-income households started shifting away from cooking gasoline resulting from value will increase. On Sunday Laugfs Gasoline, the nation’s second largest provider raised costs by 1,359 rupees ($4.94) for a 12.5 kg cylinder, the corporate mentioned in a press release.

Sri Lanka has been struggling to seek out {dollars} to pay for more and more costly gasoline shipments since January, with its international foreign money reserves dipping to $2.31 billion in February.

In February Sri Lanka’s inflation hit 15.1%, among the many highest in Asia, with meals inflation hovering to 25.7%, newest authorities information confirmed.

Earlier this month Sri Lanka’s central financial institution floated the rupee inflicting the foreign money to plummet by greater than 30% to commerce at about 275 rupees per U.S. greenback.

Milk powder costs elevated by 250 rupees ($0.90) for a 400g pack on Saturday, prompting restaurant homeowners to boost the price of a cup of milk tea to 100 rupees.

($1 = 275.0000 Sri Lankan rupees)

Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe, Enhancing by Rupam Jain and Muralikumar Anantharaman

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Ideas.