Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika is dead.

Bingu wa Mutharika, the controversial president of Malawi who saw the country fall into economic crisis, has died from a heart attack, it was reported today.

The 78-year-old leader, reviled by many in his own country and the international community, was rushed to hospital after collapsing on Thursday, but could not be saved.

Malawi state media said Mutharika had been flown out to South Africa for treatment, although the current whereabouts of his body remains unclear, according to Reuters.

Medical sources said the leader was flown from Lilongwe hospital because the power and energy crisis in Malawi is so severe the hospital could not carry out a proper autopsy or even keep his body refrigerated.

Mutharika had become widely disliked by Malawians since becoming leader seven years ago, as many blamed him personally for the nation's crippling economic woes.

As rumours of the death of the self-styled 'Economist in Chief' swept the capital on Thursday night, there were even pockets of drunken jubilation among locals who saw him turning back the clock on 18 years of democracy in the 'Warm Heart of Africa'.

The country of 13 million had suffered chronic fuel shortages in recent months which led in turn to pump prices soaring by 30 per cent.

The African country also teetered on the brink of civil unrest following various protests outside government buildings last year.

The controversial statesman was condemned by the international community in July when more than a dozen people died after he deployed the army to crush protests against his government.

At the end of last year Mutharika had to call an impromptu telephone press conference to confirm he was still alive, amid rumours he had died when he vanished from view.

In November last year, Mutharika disappeared from Malawi during its economic crisis in order to take a holiday in Hong Kong.

Rumours of his death came just three months after Mutharika sacked his entire cabinet, assuming every position himself.

The statesman appointed new people to most of the roles, including several members of his own family.

There are fears that his death could lead to a power struggle.

Both the UK and US have called for the constitution to be respected

According to the constitution, the vice-president takes over if the head of state is incapacitated or dies in office.

But Vice-President Joyce Banda and Mr Mutharika fell out after a row over the succession in 2010, and she was expelled from the ruling Democratic People's Party (DPP).

Mr Mutharika's brother, Foreign Minister Peter Mutharika, was chosen instead of Ms Banda to be the DPP's presidential candidate in the 2014 elections. He has been standing in for the president when needed during official occasions. Ms Banda recently told the BBC she had not spoken to Bingu wa Mutharika for more than a year.

Joyce Banda, the country’s vice-president, who has the legal mandate to take over, refused to confirm that she was now in charge. Mr Mutharika, 78, had fallen out with Mrs Banda and it was widely suggested he was grooming his brother, Peter, the country’s foreign minister, as his heir. Peter Mutharika had not commented by last night.

The US State Department led international calls for clarity, saying that “we are concerned about the delay in the transfer of power”. “We trust that the vice-president, who is next in line, will be sworn in shortly,” it added.

Few Malawians appeared to be mourning the president’s passing. They had grown increasingly frustrated with an economic crisis blamed on a diplomatic spat between Mr Mutharika and Britain’s high commissioner, Fergus Cochrane-Dyet, whose expulsion last year prompted cuts in British aid to the country.

In a leaked cable, Mr Cochrane-Dyet called the president “autocratic”, “combative” and “intolerant of criticism”.  This led Mr Mutharika to expell the UK High Commissioner.

The Malawian leader said he could not accept "insults" just because the UK was his country's largest aid donor.

In response, the UK expelled the Malawian envoy to London and cut direct aid. Britain cancelled £19 million in donor funding to the aid-dependent country.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with an estimated 75% of the population living on less than $1 (60p) a day.

The country has suffered shortages of fuel and foreign currency since the UK and other donors cancelled aid.

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