India former president APJ Abdul Kalam dies

Man considered father of country’s military missile programme collapses while delivering lecture in northeastern city.

Abdul Kalam president india
Tributes have already started pouring for Kalam, with politicians and celebrities praising the former president [Reuters]

APJ Kalam, a former Indian president, has died at a hospital after collapsing while delivering a lecture in northeastern India.

Kalam died on Monday night, according to B Warjri, chief secretary of Meghalaya state. He was 83.

Local media said he had been delivering a lecture at the Indian  Institute of Management in Shillong when he collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest. He was rushed to the  Bethany hospital where he passed on.

The president from 2002 until 2007, Kalam was known as the father of the country’s military missile programme.

Tributes immediately started to pour in for Kalam, with politicians and celebrities praising him. 

Source: News Agencies