Kerala MP Ahamed dies at RML hospital

Senior Kerala MP E. Ahamed died here on Wednesday hours after suffering a severe cardiac arrest in the Parliament, confirmed a senior doctor at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital.

According to hospital authorities, Ahamed was officially declared dead around 2.15 am after being put on the life support system.

"His body will be sent to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for embalming so that it can be flown to his hometown in Kerala," a senior doctor, who did not wish to be named, told IANS.

The RML hospital does not have facilities to perform embalming.

Ahamed, a former Minister in the UPA government and a long-time IUML MP from Kerala, was admitted to RML after he fell unconscious in Parliament's Central Hall on Tuesday during President Pranab Mukherjee's address.

The 78-year-old leader served as Minister of State for External Affairs in the UPA government and has been a Lok Sabha member from Malappuram in Kerala since 1991.

Immediately after the news of his death, many of the leaders including Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Kerala Congress leader and parliamentarian K.C. Venugopal visited the hospital.

Ahamed was initially admitted to the emergency department. However, as he showed no signs of revival, doctors put him on life support after shifting him to the trauma centre.

A team of three doctors, consisting of head of Cardiology Department Neeraj Pandit, head of Anaesthesia Department Rajesh Sood and Nursing-in-Charge R.S. Tonk, monitored Ahamed's condition.

--IANS

rup/in