Furkan Quereshi

INDORE: A 16-year-old boy died of cardiac arrest after playing PUBG on his mobile phone for six hours at a stretch, and apparently losing a ‘battle’, in Neemuch town of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday.

Furkan Quereshi, a Class XII student, suddenly became agitated while playing PUB-G and started shouting, before he collapsed on the floor, his father Harun Rashid Quereshi told reporters on Thursday.

The incident took place on May 28 when Furkan and his family were visiting a relative for a wedding. Addicted to the battle game, Furkan got engrossed in it soon after lunch, Quereshi said.

Doc: Adrenaline surge led to cardiac arrest

Fiza, Furkan’s sister, who was beside him at the time said that he suddenly started shouting “blast karo, blast karo (carry out the blast)”.

Then, he removed his earphones, threw the mobile phone and started crying, said Fiza: “He was saying, ‘Ayan, I will not play with you. You made me lose’, when he keeled over,” she said.

Family members rushed to his aid when he collapsed and took him to hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Cardiologist Ashok Jain, who examined the boy, told TOI, “He didn’t have a pulse when he was brought in. We tried to resuscitate him, but he could not be revived.”

Dr Jain said Furkan’s heart seemed to be healthy as the family said that he was a swimmer. “The excitement of the video game might have caused a surge in adrenaline, causing tachycardia (increased heart rate) and cardiac arrest,” he said.

Furkan’s brother Mohd Hashim said he was addicted to the game and sometimes played for 18 hours a day. “I have deleted the game from my phone,” he said.

