Posted by BBC News on
President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, Africa's longest serving ruler, has died aged 69, the government said in a statement.
"It is a national catastrophe. The president of the republic, Gnassingbe Eyadema, is no more," it said.
Mr Eyadema died as he was being evacuated for emergency treatment abroad, the statement added.
Mr Eyadema had ruled the small west African country since 1967, when he rose to power in a military coup.
The president had been ill for a number of years, and had travelled abroad on several occasions for medical treatment.
Rights abuses
The announcement was made by Prime Minister Koffi Sama, who said the country's borders have been sealed, according to the AFP news agency.
The statement also reportedly declared that "the government, the armed and security forces, will ensure that order, security and peace reign throughout the national territory."
The Togolese people, it said, "must avoid sinking again into chaos, division and anarchy."
After seizing power 38 years ago, Mr Eyadema dissolved all political parties and governed unchallenged for more than two decades.
He legalised political parties again in 1991, as a result of popular pressure, and won three elections.
But accusations of political repression and electoral fraud continued.
The European Union suspended aid in 1993 in protest at alleged voting irregularities.
An investigation by the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity, after disputed elections in 1998, concluded there had been systematic violations of human rights.