Turkish Cypriot businessman Asil Nadir is not yet dead, doctors said on Thursday, after widespread reports to the contrary.

Northern Nicosia’s Kolan Hospital’s chief physician Celal Bolukbasi said shortly after 2pm that Nadir remains in intensive care, with some sources reporting that Nadir had “lost his vital functions”, and some reporting that the hospital is now seeking blood for him.

Media across the north and Turkey, including Kibris, the newspaper he founded, and Turkish public broadcaster TRT, had reported shortly after 1pm that Nadir had died, but most outlets have now expunged those announcements from their record. 

Nadir is 83 years old and has been in intensive care since Tuesday.