Khaleda Zia no more

Khaleda Zia, the country’s first female prime minister and chairperson of the BNP, has died aged 79.

Her personal physician Dr AZM Zahid Hossain said she breathed her last early on Tuesday while receiving treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka.

Members of her family were present at the hospital at the time of her death, including her elder son Tarique Rahman; his wife Zubaida Rahman; their daughter Zaima Rahman; the wife of her late younger son Arafat Rahman Coco, Syeda Shamila Rahman; Coco’s two daughters Jahia Rahman and Jafia Rahman; Khaleda’s younger brother Shamim Eskander and his wife Kaniz Fatema; the wife of her late brother Sayeed Eskander, Nasrin Eskander; her sister Selina Islam, among others.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was also present at the hospital, bdnews24.com reports.

News of her death cast an immediate pall of grief. Several doctors and nurses at the hospital were seen breaking down in tears as the news broke.

The death was reported widely within moments on social media, where many expressed their condolences and shared messages of mourning.