Former deputy prime minister Abdul Ghafar Baba's condition remains stable and he is now breathing on his own, Pantai Medical Centre's consultant chest physician, Dr K. Ampikaipakan, said today.

However, Ghafar was still not fit to go out of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Ghafar's son, Tamrin, told Bernama that his father's condition was the same as yesterday.

Rumours

Ghafar, 80, is being treated at the private specialist hospital for heart and lung complications.

Earlier, he was warded at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre in Petaling Jaya for chest pains before being transferred to the PMC's Intensive Care Unit on Oct 12.

On Thursday, rumours began to spread widely that he had died. This led the medical centre to issue a denial.