President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka has fled the country on a military jet in response to calls for his resignation.

CNN and the BBC claimed Rajapaksa, who had been in hiding since demonstrators stormed his mansion on Saturday, fled on a military jet.

Rajapaksa's departure comes just hours before he was scheduled to resign as president on Wednesday, as more than 100,000 protesters took to the streets of the capital, Colombo, in opposition to his handling of an economic crisis that left millions of residents unable to afford necessities such as food, medicine, and fuel.

CNN claimed that at least twice on Monday, Rajapaksa was prevented from boarding an aircraft out of Sri Lanka after refusing to join a public immigration line at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

According to the BBC, Rajapaksa's brother, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, fled the country.

Basil Rajapaksa attempted to board Emirates Flight 649 to Dubai from the main international airport outside of Colombo through a VIP entry when he was prevented by security personnel who informed him he did not qualify, according to reports from Bloomberg and The Washington Post.

In Rajapaksa's absence, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe would be next in line to govern the country, but he has also committed to stand down without specifying a timetable.

On Monday, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, third in line to govern the nation, announced that presidential elections would be held on July 20.

After Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe's resignation, opposition leaders gathered on Sunday to explore building a coalition government.

Unconvinced that the president and prime minister will leave, protesters have pledged to occupy their mansions until they are no longer in office.