Former President APJ Abdul Kalam has passed away in Shillong, The Quint has been able to confirm. He collapsed while delivering a lecture at IIM-Shillong.

Dr John Sailo, CEO, Bethany Hospital, Shillong confirmed to The Quint over the phone that Dr Kalam was brought dead to the hospital.

Speaking to The Quint, David Sailo, Managing Director of Bethany Hospital said he was brought to the hospital at 7pm without a pulse or any other sign of life, and that efforts were made to revive him. At 7:45 pm, Dr Kalam was declared dead, he said. When asked what the cause of death was he said, “As for the cause of death, difficult to say, but it may have been a cardiac event.”