Former Indian President Abdul Kalam passes away

Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a popular head of state between 2002 and 2007, died yesterday after he collapsed during a lecture in Shillong.

The 84-year-old Kalam was rushed to Bethany hospital in Nongrim hills after he collapsed during the lecture at the Indian Institute of Management at around 6.30 p.m., the Indian Express reported.

Chief Secretary P.B.O. Warjiri told reporters outside the hospital that he had spoken to Union Home Secretary L.C. Goyal asking for necessary arrangements to be made for carrying Kalam’s body from Guwahati to Delhi today morning.

“The former President has been admitted to Bethany hospital in a critical condition,” M. Kharkrang, SP Khasi Hills said earlier.

The former President collapsed during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management at around 6.30 p.m. and was rushed to the hospital in Nongrim Hills in the capital city of Meghalaya, where he was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Doctors from the army hospital and North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) rushed to Bethany hospital.

Governor V. Shanmughanathan, Speaker Abu Taher Mondal, Home Minister Roshan Warjiri, the Chief Secretary and DGP Rajiv Mehta rushed to the hospital as well.