SAO PAULO: The mayor of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous city, died Sunday after a long battle with cancer of the digestive system, the hospital where he was being treated announced. Mayor Bruno Covas had been hospitalized on May 2 as the cancer, first diagnosed in 2019, spread through his body.

His medical team said Friday that his condition was terminal.

News of his death, announced by the city’s Syrian-Lebanese Hospital, prompted an outpouring on social media, with thousands of supporters expressing condolences for the moderate politician and solidarity with his family. Covas, a member of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, had positioned himself in the center of a polarized country.