HYDERABAD: A tenth-class girl died of a heart attack while she was walking to the school. The incident happened at Telangana’s Kamareddy district. The victim is Sri Nidhi aged 16 of Singarayapalli village in Ramareddy.

The girl suffered a chest pain when she reached near the school and collapsed. A teacher saw this and immediately rushed her to a nearby hospital. The doctors who examined her gave CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation). When she failed to respond, the doctors referred her to another hospital with better facilities. When she was taken to the second hospital, she was declared dead.

Teachers and students expressed grief on her death. The teachers said they could not believe when they heard that a girl who was just 16 died of a heart attack. Her body was handed over to her relatives after postmortem.

Mohit Chaudhary, a class 6 student from Sirauli village in Aligarh, died of a heart attack months ago. The 14-year-old collapsed while preparing for a sports competition. Another eight-year-old boy Diksha from the same district had collapsed and died while playing with his friends. This death was also due to a heart attack.

Deaths by cardiac arrest have increased by 22 percent in the last two years, said Professor M Rabbani of Aligarh Muslim University. ‘All the recent heart attack deaths were people who had no other health issues. Therefore, if complains of shortness of breath and chest pain, should examine immediately,’ said Rabbani.