DHAKA: Zambian president Michael Sata has died at the age of 77 after receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness.

Family sources and Zambian media say, the BBC publishes this report on Wednesday.

President Sata, who was being treated in the UK for the past week, died on Tuesday night, Zambia Reports said.

It said that he died after ‘a sudden onset (of) heightened heart rate’.

It is not immediately clear who will succeed the president. The issue may be decided by the Zambian cabinet which meets on Wednesday morning.

His death comes just days after Zambia celebrated the 50th anniversary of its independence from the UK.

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.

After he left the country, defence minister Edgar Lungu was named as acting president.

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.

Known as ‘King Cobra’ for his venomous tongue, Sata was elected Zambia’s president in 2011.

BDST: 1629 HRS, OCT 29, 2014