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Peru’s ex-president dead after shooting himself amid corruption probe

Former Peruvian president Alan Garcia is dead after shooting himself as police came to detain him in connection with a corruption probe.

Current President Martinez Vizcarra said the 69-year-old died after undergoing emergency surgery at the Jose Casimiro Ulloa Hospital in Peru’s capital.

Peru’s police officers stand guard at the hospital where former president Alan Garcia was taken
Peru’s police officers stand guard at the hospital where Garcia was taken (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

Garcia was a populist firebrand who twice ruled Peru and more recently was under investigation related to Latin America’s largest corruption probe.

Prosecutors said they believed the former president received more than 100,000 US dollars (£76,000) from Odebrecht, disguised as a payment to speak at a conference in Brazil.

Garcia professed his innocence and said he was being targeted politically.