Union minister Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who was undergoing treatment for a serious liver ailment, died at a city hospital on Tuesday.

The end came early Tuesday afternoon a week after Deshmukh, 67, the Science and Technology Minister, was hospitalised here in a critical condition, even as attempts were being made to find a donor for his liver transplant.

An attempt to harvest liver from a brain dead donor from a government hospital in Chennai last night failed as the man died before doctors could operate on him, hospital sources said.

A team from Global Hospitals, where Deshmukh was admitted on August 6, had planned to retrieve the liver from the 31-year-old donor at the hospital, but he died, forcing them to look for another donor, the sources said.

Following this, the hospital said they were looking for a liver donor.

The former Maharashtra Chief Minister had shown signs of improvement and been on and off the ventilator before being prepared for a transplant.

Deshmukh was brought here from Mumbai in an air ambulance in a critical condition and was under the care of a team of different specialists.

Hospital sources said Desmukh died of multiple organ failure around 1400 hrs.

Deshmukh, who had shown signs of improvement in his condition, turned critical this afternoon, the sources said.

His family members were by his side when Deshmukh breathed his last, they said.

Deshmukh’s funeral at his native village tomorrow

Union Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who passed away in Chennai this afternoon, will be cremated at his native Babhalgaon village in Latur district on Wednesday, family sources said.

The mortal remains of the departed leader will be brought to Latur on Wednesday and kept at his house in Babhalgaon from 9 am to 3 pm for people to pay their last respects, his brother Dilip Deshmukh, said.

The funeral procession will start at 3 pm and last rites would be performed at 4 pm, he said.