PESHAWAR/BANNU, June 21: MPA Ziad Akram Durrani, the son of former chief minister Akram Khan Durrani, passed away due to cardiac arrest in Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in Peshawar. He was 30.

According to Akram Khan Durrani, his son was admitted to LRH on Tuesday due to heart problem. It was the third heart attack, which proved deadly, he said, adding they kept the report about his heart problem secret from family members owing to deteriorating health condition of his mother and grandmother.

Ziad Durrani breathed his last at LRH on late Wednesday night. His body was dispatched to his native town Mewakhel in Bannu at 11am on Thursday and laid to rest at 6pm on the same day.

A large number of people including Provincial Labour Minister Haji Sher Azam Khan, Anwar Saifullah Khan, Sikandar Sherpao, relatives, friends, leaders of different political parties, well wishers, party workers and government functionaries participated in his final rituals.

Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Karamatullah Chagharmatti, senior provincial ministers Bashir Bilour and Rahimdad Khan, Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Finance Minister Humayun Khan, Amjad Khan Afridi, chief secretary Ghulam Dastagir and others offered fateha for the departed soul.

Ziad was elected MPA from PK-70, Bannu on the ticket of Mutahidda Majlis-i-Amal in 2008 general elections. He was also elected as the youngest MNA in the by-polls on the seat vacated after the death of Naseeb Ali Shah.

Ziad was born on February 13, 1982 and got degrees of BA and LLB. He got married in 2010. He has left behind a daughter named Bakhtawar.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly held a condolence meeting and paid rich tribute to the deceased MPA. The meeting expressed grief over the death of Ziad and prayed for the departed soul. The meeting also expressed sympathy with the bereaved family. Later the meeting was adjourned till 5pm.

Speaker Chagharmatti suspended the agenda and held the condolence meeting. JUI member Mufti Kifayatullah offered prayers for the departed soul.

“Seven members elected in 2008 general elections are no longer with us,” he said.

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