Poetry reciter Kazi Arif clinically dead

Kazi Arif, a pioneer poetry reciter of the country, has been declared clinically dead at a Manhattan hospital in New York.

Arif, also a freedom fighter and architect by profession, underwent heart surgery at the Mount Sinai Hospital on 25 April.

He was kept on life support after his health condition deteriorated.

The general secretary of Bangladesh Poetry Recitation Coordination Council of New York, Ahkam Ullah, said Arif was declared clinically dead at 10:30am (Bangladesh time) on Saturday.

He will be taken off life support and may be declared dead at 8:30 am (New York time) on Sunday, Ahkam Ullah added.