Nobel prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez passed away in Mexico. He was 87.
According to the BBC, a spokeswoman for the family, Fernanda Familiar, revealed the news on Twitter, saying that she has been authorized to provide the information by his wife Mercedes and her sons.
Marquez had been ill for some time and was sent back home last week after he was recently hospitalised for a lung and urinary tract infection in Mexico City, as his health was said to be "very fragile".
The Colombian novelist was one of the best Spanish-language authors, and had achieved significant critical acclaim and commercial success, mainly for popularizing a literary style labeled as magic realism.
His 1967 masterpiece 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' sold more than 30 million copies and in 1982, he was honoured with the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Several known figures and celebrities mourned the author's death on Twitter including Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, US President Barack Obama, former US President Bill Clinton, and Colombian pop star Shakira among others.