'Alive and well': Saudi Arabia denies reports of Prince Abdulaziz's death in graft purge

Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd, a son of the late king Fahd, was rumoured to have been killed during a gun battle while resisting arrest amid a crackdown at the weekend.

The hashtag "death of Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd" has since featured on social media, fuelling fevered speculation online.

"There is no truth whatsoever to rumours circulating in media concerning Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd," an information ministry spokesman said in a statement.

"Prince Abdulaziz is alive and well."

Dozens of high-profile figures including princes, ministers as well as billionaire tycoon al-Waleed bin Talal were swept up in the weekend crackdown – just after an anti-graft commission headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was established.

It was the biggest purge of the kingdom's elite in modern Saudi history.

In July, Prince Abdulaziz seemed to lash out at bin Salman in a series of tweets after he toppled the previous crown prince Mohammed bin Nayef, ousting him from the interior ministry.

He tweeted in September that his life was in danger before deleting the remarks and claiming his account had been hacked.

Separately, on Sunday another prince, Mansour bin Moqren, was reported killed in a helicopter crash near the kingdom's southern border with Yemen.

Authorities have not revealed the cause of the crash.