New Delhi:
Senior BJP leader and union minister for rural development
Gopinath Munde died after a road accident in Delhi today morning. He was 64.
"He suffered cervical fractures and the oxygen to his brain and lungs may have been cut off. His liver was ruptured and he lost one, two litres of blood," said union health minister Harsh Vardhan.
At about 6.20 this morning, Mr Munde was on his way to the Delhi airport when an Indica car crashed into the minister's SX4 car at the the Prithviraj Road and Aurobindo Chowk cross-section in the heart of the capital, the police said. (
BJP Shocked Over Gopinath Munde's Death)
Doctors quoted the minister's personal staff as saying that the Indica crashed into the car on the side that the minister was seated in the rear seat. Mr Munde, who seemed to have suffered only minor injuries, was in shock, his staff members said. He had asked for water, they said. (
Munde's Demise a Major Loss, Tweets PM)
Mr Munde's driver and personal assistant were in the front and were unhurt. They rushed him to the trauma centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. ('
Munde Wanted Water, Asked Driver to Take Him to Hospital')
"There was no spontaneous breathing and no cardiac activity when he was brought to the hospital," a doctor said.
The doctors tried to revive the minister, but could not and pronounced him dead at 7.20 am.
Doctors have said Mr Munde was diabetic and suffered from hypertension.
The driver of the Indica, an employee of the Imperial Hotel, has been arrested, the police said, and charged with causing death due to negligence and rash driving. (
Gopinath Munde's Hometown in Shock)
After the post mortem, Mr Munde's body was taken to the BJP office at 11 Ashoka Road, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others will pay their respects.
It will then be flown to Mumbai where people will pay their respects to the late leader this evening. Tomorrow morning, his body will be flown to Latur and then taken to Parli in Beed district, Mr Munde's hometown, where the last rites will be performed.
Mr Munde was on his way to the airport this morning to go to Beed, which was his Lok Sabha constituency, for a victory rally. He was sworn in as a Cabinet minister last week.