Poet, journalist and translator Ratho Rafi died at a hospital in the capital on Thursday while undergoing treatment for heart disease and other health complications. He was 51.

He died at the intensive care unit (ICU) of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital at around 7:30pm, according to a report by bdnews24.com.

His brother Ehtesham said Ratho had been admitted to the hospital three days earlier. As his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to the ICU and placed on life support, but doctors could not save him.

His body will be taken to his birthplace in Ashuganj upazila of Brahmanbaria, where he is expected to be buried at the family graveyard.

Born on March 31, 1975, Ratho Rafi worked for the Bangla-language newspapers Samakal and Bhorer Kagoj. Although he pursued a career in journalism, he was primarily known for his poetry and literary work.

His first poetry collection, Akkhor O Balir Prithibi (A World of Letters and Sand), was published at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair in 2020. He also wrote the poetry collections Baromashya and Hridoyer Onubad.

Alongside writing poetry, Ratho developed a reputation as a translator of international literature, helping bring works from world literature to Bangla readers.

His death marks the loss of a poet and journalist whose creative work extended beyond newspaper journalism into poetry and translation.