Austria: The Austrian President, Dr Thomas Klestil, is fighting for his life after suffering heart failure yesterday, three days before retiring.
Bodyguards reanimated Dr Klestil with a defibrillator after his heart stopped shortly after 7 a.m. yesterday. Minutes later paramedics flew him by helicopter to a Vienna hospital where doctors described the health of the 71-year-old head of state as "very bad".
"His life is in severe danger," said Dr Reinhard Krepler, director of Vienna's General Hospital. "We are very concerned but we remain hopeful."
A hospital spokesman said Dr Klestil never regained consciousness and was put in an artificial coma to reduce the strain on his body and to allow his lungs to stabilise.
Dr Klestil, a conservative, was due to hand over power this week after two six-year terms to Dr Heinz Fischer, the Social Democrat president who was elected in April. A government spokesman said that Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel had immediately assumed the President's powers. Dr Fischer's swearing-in would continue as planned on Thursday, the spokesman said, adding that a farewell ceremony for Dr Klestil would be postponed until he could participate personally.
"We are all stunned at the news, and we wish him a speedy recovery," said Mr Andreas Kohl, speaker of the Austrian parliament.
Dr Klestil's doctor, Dr Wolfgang Graninger, was even less optimistic, but said the heart failure was caused by a busy last week in office and not a long-standing lung condition.
Dr Klestil has suffered poor health in recent years, including a serious lung infection in September 1996 and again last June.
He also suffered from a pulmonary embolism and had an operation on both Achilles tendons.
Viennese Dr Klestil began work as a civil servant in 1957 and rose through the diplomatic ranks to become ambassador to Washington in 1982.
He was not widely known when he took office in 1992 but became an extremely visible president, though his health problems curtailed this in recent years.
He won international attention after he made clear he opposed conservative plans to form a coalition with Jörg Haider's Freedom Party (FPÖ) four years ago. He subsequently approved the government, but in a distinctly chilly fashion.