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Dhaka: Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is "extremely unwell" and has been put on ventilator, with both local and international medical specialists overseeing her treatment, her party leaders said on Monday.

Zia, the 80-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson, was admitted to the capital's Evercare Hospital on November 23 when she developed a chest infection that affected both her heart and lungs.

Four days later, the three-time Prime Minister was shifted to the coronary care unit after several of her health complications worsened.

Earlier, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had said her physical condition was very critical.

Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh's interim government, had expressed concern about Zia’s health condition. On Friday night, the Chief Adviser had sent Asif Nazrul, an adviser to the interim government, to the hospital to enquire about Zia's condition.

Zia was last seen in public on November 21 when she went to the Senakunj Community Center in Dhaka Cantonment to attend a reception to mark Armed Forces Day. Sitting in a wheelchair, she held a brief meeting with Yunus there. Zia seemed quite well that day.

Zia has been suffering from various physical ailments, including heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, liver cirrhosis and kidney complications for a long time. She went to London on January 8 for advanced treatment.

After undergoing treatment at the London Clinic for 17 days, she received treatment at her son Tarique Rahman's house on January 25 under the supervision of London Clinic specialist doctors Professor Patrick Kennedy and Professor Jennifer Cross. The BNP Chairperson returned to Bangladesh on May 6 after receiving advanced treatment in the UK.

Zia served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She is the widow of former President of Bangladesh and army commander Ziaur Rahman. (With ANI inputs)