Oscar Pistorius has been taken from prison to hospital for medical examinations amid media reports that the convicted murderer and former track star was suffering from chest pains.
Logan Maistry, spokesman for the Department of Correctional Services, initially told the Associated Press that Pistorius was taken to hospital on Thursday morning and was expected to return to prison later the same day. However, Pistorius will now stay overnight in the hospital "for observation", Maistry said. Maistry declined to give details of Pistorius's medical complaint, citing department rules preventing the divulging of information on offenders. He said only that Pistorius was having "medical examinations". Reports claimed Pistorius was suffering from chest pains and was taken by ambulance, escorted by armed guards, from Atteridgeville prison to the emergency department at Kalafong hospital in the South African capital, Pretoria. Maistry declined to comment on the reports, while a spokesman for Pistorius did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Pistorius, the double-amputee Olympic runner and multiple Paralympic champion, is serving a six-year jail term for murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013. He has served a year of his sentence. Pistorius, 30, was first imprisoned at the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in central Pretoria, but was moved to Atteridgeville as it was better suited to handle disabled prisoners.