Thousands of protesters in Sri Lanka's commercial capital Colombo broke through police barricades and stormed the president's official residence on Saturday in one of the largest anti-government marches in the crisis-hit country this year, France 24 and Reuters reported.

Some protesters, holding Sri Lankan flags and helmets, broke into the president's residence, video footage from local TV news NewsFirst channel showed.

Defense ministry sources said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was moved away from the official premises for his safety ahead of the planned protests.

At least 21 people, including two police were injured and hospitalized in the ongoing protests, hospital sources told Reuters.

Demonstrators packed in buses, trains and trucks from across the South Asian nation entered Colombo earlier on Saturday to express outrage over the government's failure to protect them from economic ruin.

The island of 22 million people is struggling under a severe foreign exchange shortage that has limited essential imports of fuel, food and medicine, plunging it into the worst financial turmoil in seven decades.

Many blame the country's decline on President Rajapaksa. Largely peaceful protests since March have demanded his resignation.

Protesters on Saturday carried black and national flags and shouted "Gota go home," using a common shortened version of the president's name.

Discontent has worsened in recent weeks as the cash-strapped country stopped receiving fuel shipments, forcing school closures, and rationing of petrol and diesel for essential services.