Africa's longest-serving ruler, the President of Togo, Gnassingbe Eyadema, died today at the age of 69.
An official statement said he was being taken abroad at the time for urgent medical treatment.
Authorities immediately sealed off all the country's borders in the wake of the president's death.
Eyadema has ruled the tiny former French west African colony since 1967, when he rose to power in a military coup.
He was subsequently elected three times in multi-party polls, the last in 2003 after the constitution was amended.
