CRITICALLY ILL FORMER BANGLADESH PM ZIA TO BE TAKEN TO LONDON: REPORTS

Zia, the 80-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson, will be flown in an air ambulance late after midnight or early Friday to London, where her elder son and acting BNP chief Tarique Rahman lives.

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Former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia

A medical board looking after critically ill former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia on Thursday decided to send her to London for advanced treatment, her personal physician AZM Zahid Hossain said.

Zia, the 80-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson, will be flown in an air ambulance late after midnight or early Friday to London, where her elder son and acting BNP chief Tarique Rahman lives.

After she developed a chest infection that affected both her heart and lungs, Zia was admitted to a private hospital here on November 23 and four days later, shifted to the coronary care unit (CCU) after several of her health complications worsened.

“The medical board has unanimously decided that she will be taken to London via the Qatar Royal Air Ambulance, either after midnight tonight or early tomorrow morning,” Hossain told reporters during a briefing outside the hospital.

Hossain, who is also a member of BNP’s policy making standing committee, however, did not explicitly comment on Zia’s current health condition.