Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italian PM who bounced back from sex scandals and corruption allegations, dies at 86, news agency AFP reported quoting Italian media. He died at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan after he was admitted on Friday for what aides said were pre-planned tests related to his leukemia just three weeks after he was discharged following a six-week stay at the hospital.
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Doctors had then revealed that he had a rare type of blood cancer. But the former Italian premier suffered ill health for years- heart surgery in 2016 to a 2020 hospitalisation for coronavirus.
Silvio Berlusconi's death leaves a "huge void" because he was a great man, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Twitter, adding, “I loved him very much. Farewell Silvio.”
Silvio Berlusconi remained the official head of his right-wing Forza Italia party, a junior partner in Italy prime minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government. He became the prime minister of Italy three times between 1994 and 2011, for a total of nine years.
He is survived by his 33-year-old girlfriend Marta Fascina, two ex-wives and five children.