Updated: Karl Chircop 'in deep coma'

(Adds MLP statement)

Labour MP Karl Chircop is in ‘deep coma’ at Mater Dei Hospital having suffered cerebral haemorrhage (stroke), the Health Division said this morning.

Dr Chircop was rushed to hospital on Sunday night.

The Health Division said the Chircop family has expressed its gratitude for the strong sense of solidarity shown to it by all sectors of Maltese society.

The family also thanked hospital staff and called for its privacy to be respected. Relatives and friends have therefore been asked not to phone and not to call at the hospital.

The Labour Party in a statement this morning described Dr Chircop's condition as precarious and said the MP had been visited in hospital once more by Joseph Muscat.

It said more medical tests were being carried out.

The Labour Party, on behalf of the Chircop family, thanked the people for their support. The family is being supported by Vincent Moran and Michael Farrugia, both former health ministers, and surgeon Anthony Zammit.