Nicki Minaj’s father killed by hit and run driver

The 64-year-old father of the rapper Nicki Minaj has died after being struck by a hit-and-run driver in New York, police said.

Robert Maraj was walking along a road in Mineola on Long Island at 6.15pm on Friday when he was hit by a car that kept going, Nassau county police said.

The accident happened so quickly that no one was able to identity the person behind the car.

Maraj was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Saturday. Police are asking any witnesses to the fatal crash to come forward.

Minaj, 38, was born Onika Tanya Maraj in Trinidad and was raised in the New York City borough of Queens. She has not made any public statement about her father’s death.