A 17-year-old National Guard conscript who was hospitalised after feeling unwell during an exercise will be taken to France to undergo further treatment, it was announced on Sunday.

He will now be flown to France by air ambulance, with the health ministry having undertaken all the necessary procedures.

The boy was intubated in the intensive care unit at the Nicosia general hospital on Saturday after reportedly feeling “fatigued” after a morning exercise the previous day.

He then reportedly lost consciousness and was initially taken to the Larnaca general hospital, before being transferred to Nicosia due to the severity of his condition.

He has been visited in hospital by Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas and National Guard chief Lieutenant general George Tsitsikostas, with both in “constant contact” with President Nikos Christodoulides regarding the boy’s health.