Gabon foreign minister dies of heart attack while waiting to attend cabinet meeting
- The government said Michael Moussa Adamo suffered a heart attack and died ‘despite efforts by specialists’ to revive him
- President Bongo described the minister as ‘a great diplomat’, adding his death was a huge loss for Gabon
Gabon’s Foreign Minister Michael Moussa Adamo died on Friday after suffering a heart attack while waiting to go into a cabinet meeting, the government and a presidential source said.
Moussa Adamo, 62, a long-standing ally of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, suffered a heart attack and died “despite efforts by specialists” to revive him, the government said in a brief statement.
He “sat down in the waiting room” just before the start of the cabinet meeting “in the presence of some of his government colleagues and began to feel unwell”, a source close to the presidential palace said.
He was taken to a military hospital while unconscious but died just after midday (1100 GMT), the source who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
Reacting to his death, President Bongo described Moussa Adamo on Twitter as “a great diplomat, a true statesman”.
“To me, he was firstly a friend, loyal and faithful, on whom I have always been able to count. It’s a huge loss for Gabon,” he added.