Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak suffered an "emotional breakdown" in prison on Tuesday, days after he was sentenced to life over the death of protesters last year.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak suffered an "emotional breakdown" in prison on Tuesday, days after he was sentenced to life over the death of protesters last year.

The ailing 84-year-old's "health deteriorated while in prison," a senior interior ministry official said, without describing the nature of the breakdown.

"Doctors from the police hospital have been called to treat him, along with the prison doctors after he suffered an emotional breakdown" a security official said.
The former leader's lawyer, Yasser Bahr, confirmed to AFP news agency that Mubarak "had an emotional crisis that affected his general health."

Mubarak's son, Gamal, who is in the same prison compound, has been moved to be closer to his father, the security official added.

On Saturday, Mubarak and his interior minister Habib al-Adly were sentenced to life in prison over the killing of protesters during last year's uprising that ousted him and that left some 850 people dead.