Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was declared ‘clinically dead’ tonight by his doctors.
Mubarak had ruled Egypt for 30 years before being overthrown by a popular revolution during last year’s Arab Spring.
He was serving a life sentence in Cairo’s Torah Prison for failing to stop the killing of protesters during last year’s uprising against him.
Egypt’s state news agency MENA said that the former dictator had been declared clinically dead by his doctors, a report confirmed by a hospital source. But security sources disputed the claim.
The agency said that Mubarak’s heart had stopped beating and that he was not responding to attempts to resuscitate him.
Earlier yesterday, the 84-year-old had been put on a respirator and was reported to be in a critical condition. He later suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma.
Mubarak was sentenced on June 2 after spending months in a military facility. Officials have since repeatedly reported his health was deteriorating.
Since his arrival at the prison directly after his sentencing, Mubarak has been suffering from high blood pressure and breathing difficulties and deep depression, according to prison officials.
Last night he was moved from prison to a military hospital nearby.
Reports of his death came as thousands of protesters gather in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demonstrate against the recent power grab by Egypt’s ruling military council which dissolved the country’s first democratically-elected parliament following the revolution.
Dailymail