Former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia 'extremely unwell', put on ventilation: party leaders
Dhaka (PTI): Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia is "extremely unwell" and she has been placed on ventilation, with both local and international medical specialists overseeing her treatment, her party leaders said on Monday.
Zia, the 80-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson, was admitted to a private hospital on November 23 when she developed a chest infection that affected both her heart and lungs.
Four days later, the three-time prime minister was shifted to the coronary care unit after several of her health complications worsened.
Her condition has deteriorated, and she was put on ventilation, BNP Vice-Chairman Advocate Ahmed Aazam Khan was quoted as saying by news portal tbsnews.net.
"She is in a very critical condition. There is nothing more to do except seek prayers from the whole nation," he told reporters outside Evercare Hospital here.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also confirmed that Zia remains in a critical condition as she continues to receive treatment at the hospital in Dhaka, with both local and international medical specialists involved in her care.
"She is extremely unwell. The entire nation is praying for her recovery... She is seriously ill, and our doctors are making every possible effort. Local and foreign specialists are involved in her treatment. They are trying their best," he was quoted as saying by the news website.
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday said Zia's physical condition remained unchanged.
Zia, the wife of slain Bangladesh president Ziaur Rahman, has been suffering from multiple other health complications, including liver and kidney issues, diabetes, arthritis, and eye-related illnesses.
Earlier in the year, Zia returned to the country from London on May 6 after spending four months for advanced medical treatment.
Her only son and BNP's acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, has been living in London since 2008. Her other son, Arafat Rahman, died of a cardiac arrest in 2025.
BNP has re-emerged as the frontrunner in Bangladesh's changed political landscape after a student-led violent street protest toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024.
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Man sets fire to gas cylinder on truck in Kerala's Kottayam, held
Kottayam(Kerala) (PTI): A 33-year-old man climbed onto a parked truck carrying cooking gas cylinders and set fire to one of them near Thalayolaparambu in the small hours of Saturday, police said.
The incident occurred around 12.30 am, they said.
The fire and rescue personnel soon arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire, averting a major disaster.
According to police, the man is suspected to be under mental distress as he claimed that he was walking from Ernakulam to his home in Marangattupilly here when he saw the truck on the roadside.
An FIR under sections 329(3)(criminal trespass),324(2)(mischief),326(f)(mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was lodged against him.
Police said that the man was formally arrested, but will be released on station bail as the offences he is accused of are bailable.
"His family is here at the station and he will be released to them," the officer said.
In the FIR, police have said that the man opened the seal of one of the gas cylinders and set fire to it with the knowledge that his act was dangerous to those living in the area.
According to the company transporting the cooking gas cylinders, it suffered a loss of Rs 2,300 in the incident.
