Nicki Minaj’s father dies after hit-and-run crash in New York

Rapper Nicki Minaj. Picture: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

The 64-year-old father of 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 local time on Friday when he was hit by a car that kept going, Nassau County police said.

Mr Maraj was taken to 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.