US Senator John McCain, a Vietnam war hero who ran unsuccessfully for president as a Republican in 2008 died on Saturday aged 81, a media report said.

McCain had been battling glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer discovered in July 2017, and had undergone surgery for an intestinal infection in April, reported Reuters.

“Senator John Sidney McCain III died at 4:28 p.m. on August 25, 2018. With the senator when he passed were his wife Cindy and their family. At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years,” the report said, citing a statement from his office.