Ghana state-run TV announces president Atta Mills has died at 68 before end of 1st term

ACCRA, Ghana – State-run television in Ghana is announcing that President John Atta Mills has died at age 68.

Ghanaian television stations GTV and TV3 broke into regular programming Tuesday to announce the death of the president who was in his first term in office.

Chief of Staff John Henry Martey Newman addressed the nation on TV, saying Atta Mills died Tuesday afternoon at the 37th Military Hospital in Accra.

Newman gave no details about the cause of Atta Mills’ death. The president celebrated his 68th birthday Saturday.

Atta Mills was elected in a 2008 runoff vote that was the closest in the country’s history. He was to run for a second term in December.