Burundi’s government says outgoing President Pierre Nkurunziza, 55, has died of a heart attack.
In a statement posted on Twitter on Tuesday, the government announced “with great sorrow to Burundians and the international community” the passing of the president
According to the statement, Nkurunziza had attended a volleyball match on Saturday afternoon and was taken to hospital that evening after falling ill.
Although he appeared to recover on Sunday and spoke to those around him, his condition suddenly deteriorated on Monday morning. He then suffered a heart attack and despite an immediate resuscitation attempt, doctors were unable to revive him.
Nkurunziza died at a hospital in Karuzi, eastern Burundi. The government said there would be a period of national mourning for seven days from Tuesday and that flags would be flown at half-mast.
Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, said the government’s stated cause of death had been met with scepticism among some Burundians on social media and elsewhere.
“So now there’s going to be of course a lot of speculation and guessing from Burundians, from the diaspora about this claim that the president had a heart attack.”
Last month, Burundi expelled the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) amid criticism of the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. It has carried out very few coronavirus tests and held large rallies in the lead-up to the country’s May 20 election.
Read more at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/burundi-president-pierre-nkurunziza-dies-government-200609142653862.html
