LONDON, Dec 30: Benazir Bhutto’s last words were “Long live Bhutto”, the chief political adviser with the former prime minister told the British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph.

Ms Bhutto shouted the words from her car just before she was killed outside the Liaquat Bagh in of Rawalpindi on Thursday, said Safdar Abbasi, who said he was sitting behind her in the vehicle.

“She did not say anything more,” he recalled.

Recounting the incident, Mr Abbasi said: “All of a sudden there was the sound of firing. I heard the sound of a bullet.

“I saw her: she looked as though she ducked in when she heard the firing. We did not realise that she had been hit by a bullet.” He said he looked up to see Ms Bhutto sliding back through the sunroof, just before it was rocked by a huge explosion.

There was no sound from the 54-year-old and Mr Abbasi said he noticed blood seeping from a deep wound on the left side of her neck.

His wife Naheed Khan cradled Ms Bhutto’s head in her lap and pressed her own headscarf onto Ms Bhutto’s wound to try to stem the blood flow.

However, blood spread down Ms Bhutto’s neck and across her blue tunic, Mr Abbasi said.

Mr Abbasi said Ms Bhutto chose to travel in the first of two waiting vehicles.

“She was smiling and she was extremely happy,” he said.

“She took me inside the car and she sat in front of me. I started chanting slogans because there were crowds all around.” Ms Bhutto lifted herself through the sunroof to wave to supporters. “Nar-i-Bhutto),” Mr Abbasi shouted. “Jeay Bhutto,” she replied, before the sound of gunfire. “We thought she had ducked in but she had not, she had fallen down,” he said.

“She did not say a single word. For a few seconds we thought she was confused by the firing and that is why she was not talking. We did not realise.—AFP