6 die of heart attack in 1 week while performing garba in Gujarat; health minister chairs meet

Six persons, including a woman and a Class 12 student, have died of heart attack in Gujarat over last one week while performing 'garba' dance as part of Navratri celebrations, according to kin and statewide 108 ambulance service.

Apart from se six deaths linked to garba events, 22 or people also died of heart attack in state during this period.

nine-day Navratri festival commenced on October 15.

Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel on Monday held a meeting with top heart specialists and doctors of U N Mehta Institute of Cardiology & Research Centre and directed m to collect relevant data and conduct research to find out exact cause of se deaths, sources said.

Notably, Uttar Presh Governor and former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel on Sunday expressed concern over this issue and urged health minister to conduct a study to find out reasons behind rising number of heart attacks in state.

"Many youngsters suffered heart attacks and died while playing garba during Navratri. We must conduct an analysis of such deaths to find out reasons. Since Rushikeshbhai is also here, I urge him to conduct a study on how many people died due to heart attack in last one year," she said while dressing a function at Sander village in Patan district.

Citing a research done by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in this connection, she ruled out a popular belief among masses that such deaths were happening due to COVID-19.

six persons who died due to heart attack while playing garba included Veer Shah, a Class 12 student from Kapvanj town in Kheda district.

According to his family, Veer fainted due to a heart attack while playing garba at a common ground on Friday night.

He was rushed to a hospital but could not be saved, y said.

As per records of '108' ambulance service, 28-year-old Ravi Panchal died due to sudden cardiac arrest when he was dancing on garba tunes at a party plot in Hathijan area on outskirts of Ahmedab in early hours of Saturday.

In Vodara, 55-year-old Shankar Rana was referred to a hospital on Friday night after he collapsed on a garba ground in Harni area. He was declared de on arrival by doctors.

Mrunal Shukla (31) of Navsari district and 46-year-old Raju Aala of Porbandar district died due to same reason on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

In Rajkot, a 47-year-old married woman, Kanchan Saxena, felt uneasy and collapsed after playing garba on Friday night. Though she was referred to a hospital, she could not be revived.

Apart from se deaths linked to garba, as many as 22 people, including two women, died due to heart attack in different parts of Gujarat during last one week.

As per data shared by '108 ambulance service, y received nearly 750 calls related to cardiac emergencies from October 15 to 22. se calls were received between 6 pm and 2 am, y ded.

service received 673 calls during Navratri, which comes to an average of 84 calls per day (673/8), though authority pointed out that this is less than 88 calls received during normal days.

Before Navratri festivities commenced, state Health and Family Welfare Department, through a notification, me it mandatory for garba event organisers to deploy an ambulance and a medical team at venue to provide immediate aid to participants.