Ex-Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi passes away

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has passed away at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan. He was 86.

According to Italian media reports, Berlusconi was treated for a lung infection linked to a previously undisclosed case of chronic leukaemia in April, reports the BBC.

A flamboyant billionaire media tycoon, Berlusconi first came to office in 1994 and led four governments until 2011.

He led the centre-right Forza Italia party which went into coalition under incumbent Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni after elections in September, when he was elected to Italy's upper house, the Senate.

Reacting to the news, Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto on Monday said Berlusconi's death left a "huge void".

"An era is over... Farewell Silvio," Crosetto wrote in a tweet, adding that he "loved" Berlusconi "very much".