Former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam dies at age 83

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Correction — October 14, 2015
 
The UTC conversion here is incorrect — 6:30pm IST is 1300 UTC, not 0000UTC the next day.
 

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Portrait of former Indian president Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, also known as the Missile Man of India; 2008.
Image: M. Prasanna Kumar.

Yesterday, former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam died at the age of 83 after collapsing at about 6:30 p.m. local time (0000 today UTC) while delivering a speech about Livable Planet Earth at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, in Meghalaya, India. Abdul Kalam was taken to Bethany Hospital's intensive care unit and was declared dead about an hour and a half later.

Some army doctors were sent from North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences. According to doctors at Bethany Hospital, Kalam was dead by 7 p.m. but they waited for the arrival of Meghalaya chief minister V. Shanmuganathan, about an hour later, before announcing the death.

LC Goyal, home secretary, said the Indian government will declare a seven day national mourning for Kalam. Home minister Rajnath Singh tweeted, "He was an inspiration to an entire generation."

Kalam's presidential term completed in July 2007.

Sources