NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — Former Indian President Abdul Kalam died Monday of a heart attack at the age of 83, a source in the country’s presidential administration told Sputnik.
According to the source, the seizure happened at 7.45 p.m. local time (14:15 GMT).
Kalam fainted during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in Shillong, the capital of the northeastern state of Meghalaya. The former president was hospitalized in a private clinic in the city.
Physicist and a specialist in aerospace engineering, Abdul Kalam served as India’s president for five years from 2002 to 2007 and contributed to the development of missiles and India's nuclear program.