Mumbai man dies in queue outside bank

In the first such tragedy, a retired senior citizen waiting in a queue to exchange demonetised notes died of a heart attack here on Friday afternoon.

Officials and eyewitnesses said that the victim, Vishwanath Vartak, was waiting in the queue to exchange some currency notes outside the State Bank Of India branch in Mulund, north-east Mumbai.

Owing to the heat and the blazing sun, the 73-year-old man suddenly fainted and collapsed in the queue.

When some people attempted to revive him, he failed to respond even as the local police and an ambulance were summoned.

He was declared dead shortly thereafter, due to a suspected severe heart attack.

Lakhs of panicky people who are queuing up at various banks and ATMs in Mumbai since the last two days have complained that there are no seating arrangements, facilities for drinking water or toilets as they wait for hours to exchange their demonetised notes.

The worst-hit are senior citizens, pregnant women, or people with health problems as they are compelled to queue up on the roads and pavements in the sun without any help from either the banks branches or the local authorities.

--IANS

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