Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak reportedly suffered multiple strokes and will be transferred to a military hospital, NBC News has learned.
Mubarak’s lawyers told NBC news he needs to be stabilized before he is moved.
His health has been deteriorating since 3 p.m. (9 a.m. ET), his lawyers told NBC. He suffered two or three strokes and his heart had to be restarted with a defibrillator and he was on a respirator.
An 18-day uprising ended Mubarak’s 30-year rule on Feb. 11, 2011, sparking months of social unrest and political turmoil.
Speculation about Mubarak's health has swirled since he was jailed for life on June 2 for failing to halt the killings of hundreds of the protesters who toppled him.
He was moved to Tora prison hospital from a plush military hospital where he was held during the 10-month trial.
Mubarak's lawyers have said the ousted leader’s status was "very critical" and that he should be moved to a better equipped facility outside of the prison.
Critics say his illness is being exaggerated to win public sympathy and to prepare for any move out of jail to another medical facility.
Egypt's prison authority on June 11 approved a request to let Mubarak's eldest son, Alaa, who is being held at the jail pending trial, stay close to him in the prison hospital because of his deteriorating health, security sources said.
His youngest son, Gamal, once viewed as heir-apparent to the presidency and who is also detained pending trial, was moved closer to him earlier.
Egypt's official news agency earlier this month denied reports that Mubarak had slipped into a coma.
Mubarak’s wife, Suzanne, and the wives of his two sons visited him earlier this month and demanded he be moved to a hospital outside prison.
Charlene Gubash is NBC News Cairo producer. Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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