Staff Reporter :
BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia will take to UK hospital for advanced medical treatment on Sunday as the previous schedule of flying on Friday failed due to technical faults of the Royal Qatar air ambulance.
Sources said, the alternative Qatar-operated air ambulance arranged through the German company FAI is scheduled to land in Dhaka at 5pm on Saturday to fly Begum Khaleda Zia to London for higher medical care.
The replacement aircraft is arriving after the original air ambulance sent by the Qatari royal family faced technical complications.
Speaking to the media, BNP Media Cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan confirmed that the Emir of Qatar has arranged the second air ambulance following mechanical issues in the first one.
“The aircraft that is arriving is indeed a Qatari air ambulance, though manufactured in Germany. Qatar is not sourcing any air ambulances directly from Germany,” he clarified.
Khaleda Zia was initially expected to depart for London on 5 December, but the delay caused by the malfunctioning royal aircraft forced a rescheduling of her travel plans.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had earlier remarked, “If her health condition allows and the medical board gives clearance, she will be flown out on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, Dr Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, arrived in Dhaka on Friday morning. She is expected to accompany her critically ill mother-in-law Khaleda Zia on the medical evacuation flight.
Special prayers were offered across the country on Friday for the quick recovery of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
At the initiative of the BNP, doa mahfils were held in mosques nationwide after Jum’a prayers.
As part of this programme, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other senior leaders joined a doa mahfil at the Nayapaltan Jam-e-Mosque following the Jum’a prayers.
Fakhrul said similar prayer gatherings were arranged in villages, towns, and districts across Bangladesh by BNP, its affiliated organisations, and ordinary citizens.
The party also urged people of all faiths to hold special prayers in temples, churches, pagodas, and other places of worship seeking her recovery.
Speaking to reporters after the prayers, Mirza Fakhrul said their party chief’s condition remains extremely serious.
He mentioned that an air ambulance sent from Qatar is expected to land in Dhaka on Saturday. “She will be taken to London for advanced treatment once her doctors confirm that she is stable enough to travel,” he said.
According to him, a team of highly skilled physicians from both Bangladesh and abroad is treating Khaleda Zia, and they believe she requires more sophisticated medical care—prompting the move to transfer her to a hospital in England.
The former prime minister has been suffering from multiple chronic health issues, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, and complications related to her kidneys, lungs, heart, and eyes.
On 23 November, Khaleda Zia was taken from her Gulshan residence, Firoza, to Evercare Hospital around 7:30pm, where she has been undergoing treatment since.
Earlier this year, on 8 January, she travelled to London and was admitted to the London Clinic under the care of renowned specialists Prof Patrick Kennedy and Prof Jennifer Cross, staying there for 17 days.
From 25 January, she continued treatment while residing at the home of her eldest son, Tarique Rahman, before returning to Dhaka on 6 May after a four-month stay in the UK.
