Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi has been taken to hospital after suffering a "severe health crisis", officials say.

They gave no further details. Mr Essebsi, 92, was also treated in hospital last week.

He became president of the North African nation after winning the first free elections in 2014, following Arab uprisings across the region.

Mr Essebsi is currently the world's oldest sitting president.

Earlier this year, he announced he would not stand in elections expected in November, saying someone younger should take charge.

Tunisian prime minister Youssef Chahed said he visited the president in hospital and urged everyone to stop spreading "fake news" about his condition after some media reports that he had died.

Mr Essebsi is the world's third oldest sitting world leader - behind only Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. They are both 93.