The breaking news about 2 hours ago was that Zambian President Michael Sata has died in the UK at the age of 77 after receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness.
President Sata died in London's King Edward VII hospital on Tuesday night reports the BBC.
Earlier the Zambian government through Roland Msiska had announced the President's death on state TV saying: "It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing on of our beloved president."
Michael Sata is the second Zambian leader to die in office after Levy Mwanawasa in 2008.
The BBC says it is not immediately clear who will succeed the president. The issue may be decided by the Zambian cabinet which meets on Wednesday morning. Vice-President Guy Scott has regularly stood in for the president at official events. But he is of Scottish descent and his parents were not born in Zambia, so he may fall foul of a constitutional clause on parentage which would nullify his candidacy. However, Defence Minister Edgar Lungu was named as acting president after Sata left the country.
Earlier this month reports in Zambia said that President Sata had gone abroad for a medical check-up amid persistent speculation that he was seriously ill.
Known as "King Cobra" for his venomous tongue, Mr Sata was elected Zambia's president in 2011, defeating the then incumbent Rupiah Banda whose party had been in power for 20 years, the report says.
He has rarely been seen in public since returning from the UN General Assembly last month, where he failed to make a scheduled speech.
Source: BBC
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