Nelson Mandela dies at the age of 95

Nelson Mandela has died, South Africa's president Jacob Zuma announced tonight.

In a statement on South African national TV, Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela, who was 95, had "departed" and was at peace.

"Our nation has lost its greatest son," Mr Zuma said. He said Mr Mandela, who preached reconciliation despite being imprisoned for 27 years, will receive a full state funeral.

He had rarely been seen in public since officially retiring in 2004. "What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human.

We saw in him what we seek in ourselves," Mr Zuma said.

“You have to thumb back through many decades of history to find another individual whose life was so intimately bound up in the fate and emotions of a nation”

UK Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to Mr Mandela, saying "a great light has gone out in the world".

Former US President Bill Clinton said in a statement: "Today the world has lost one of its most important leaders and one of its finest human beings... All of us are living in a better world because of the life that Madiba lived."

Actor Morgan Freeman, who portrayed Mandela in a 2009 film, describes him as "a saint to many, a hero to all who treasure liberty, freedom and the dignity of humankind. Madiba may no longer be with us, but his journey continues on with all of us".

More to follow.