DHAKA: Bangladesh’s first female prime minister and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson, Begum Khaleda Zia, has died at the age of 80.

She passed away at 6 am on Tuesday while receiving treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka, the BNP confirmed through Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the party’s official Facebook page.

Khaleda Zia had been hospitalized since November 23 after suffering heart and lung infections and was also battling pneumonia.