Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on life support after being declared 'clinically dead' by his doctors

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is being kept alive by life support after he was rushed from a prison hospital to a military one in a rapidly worsening condition, officials said.

The 84-year-old ousted leader’s health crisis added a new element of uncertainty just as a potentially explosive fight opened over who will succeed him.

The state news agency Mena said Mubarak was ‘clinically dead’ when he arrived at the hospital and that doctors used a defibrillator on him several times. It initially said the efforts were not successful.

But the official said Mubarak was put on life support. He had no further details on his condition.

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.

Details of the crisis remain sketchy. 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.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER