Shillong: Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, a popular President between 2002 and 2007, passed away on Monday after he collapsed during a lecture in Shillong.
APJ Abdul Kalam. Reuters
Kalam (84) took ill at a function in Shillong and was rushed to the hospital, M Kharkrang, SP Khasi Hills, said.
The former President collapsed during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong at around 6.30 pm and was taken to the hospital. TV reports earlier said that Kalam suffered a massive cardiac arrest at the function at IIM Shillong.
He had been admitted to the ICU at the hospital.
"The former president was brought almost dead to our hospital. He is in a critical condition. We are trying to revive the patient," John Sailo Ryntathiang, director of Bethany Hospital, told IANS.
"He is in the Intensive Care Unit. We are examining him. We suspect that it could be cardiac arrest," Sailo said.
Meghalaya Governor V Shanmughanathan and Chief Secretary PBO Warjri visited Bethany hospital where Kalam has been admitted.
Earlier during the day, Kalam had tweeted about his function at IIM Shillong.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, saying that the "nation has lost a real bharat ratna."
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also reacted to Kalam's demise as he told India Today, "He was a man who was always surrounded by knowledge. He never had an iota of politics around him."
