The air ambulance, equipped with members from the Qatari royal medical team, is set to take Khaleda Zia to London for treatment.
Bangladesh’s largest news outlet BDNews24 has reported that Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arranged a “special air ambulance” to Dhaka to transport former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia to London for emergency medical treatment.
The flight arrived in Dhaka on Monday to pick up the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson, making a brief stop in Qatar before departing for London at 10pm.
The 79-year-old served as the first female prime minister of Bangladesh for two separate terms: from 1991 to 1996, and again from 2001 to 2006.
Khaleda Zia’s personal physician Zahid Hossain shared details of the journey.
“Madam [Zia] will leave for the airport from her Gulshan residence ‘Firoza’ by 8pm,” he told local media. “There is a stopover in Doha on the way to London. Everything is going well and if it continues like this, we will be able to take off [to London] by 10pm.’’
“She will be taken directly to the London Clinic from Heathrow International Airport,” he went on to say. “This hospital is equipped to provide the specialised care she requires.”
According to Enamul Haque Chowdhury, a member of the BNP Chairperson’s Advisory Council, the plane has now been placed under strict security,.
The medical plane is equipped with the latest facilities, equipment, and machinery, in addition to four physicians and paramedics from Qatar’s royal medical team, as well as six members of Zia’s medical board.
Khaleda Zia has reportedly been suffering from liver cirrhosis, heart disease, kidney problems and other health conditions. She will be receiving treatment at the London Clinic, according to Bangladeshi media.
