Sri Lanka runs out of diesel, faces longest-ever blackout

COLOMBO: Diesel was no longer on sale across Sri Lanka on Thursday (Mar 31), crippling transport as the crisis-hit country's 22 million people endure record-long power blackouts.

The South Asian nation is in the grips of its worst economic downturn since independence, sparked by an acute lack of foreign currency to pay for even the most essential imports.

Diesel - the main fuel for buses and commercial vehicles - was unavailable at stations across the island, according to officials and media reports.

Petrol was on sale but in short supply, forcing motorists to abandon their cars in long queues.

"We are siphoning off fuel from buses that are in the garage for repairs and using that diesel to operate serviceable vehicles," Transport Minister Dilum Amunugama said.

Owners of private buses - which account for two-thirds of the country's fleet - said they were already out of oil and that even skeleton services may not be possible after Friday.

"We are still using old stocks of diesel, but if we don't get supplies by this evening, we will not be able to operate," chairman of the private bus operators association Gemunu Wijeratne told AFP.