M A I N   N E W S

Union Minister Munde dies in car crash
Suffers internal injuries, cardiac arrest in Delhi accident
State funeral in Maharashtra today
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 3
Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde today died of multiple internal injuries and cardiac arrest following a road accident early this morning.

Munde (64), a prominent Backward Class leader from Maharashtra, was travelling in the rear seat of his official car when it was hit by another vehicle. The minister was on his way to the Delhi airport.

Munde, who earned his spurs as the Deputy Chief Minister in Maharashtra, made his debut at the Centre last week when he took oath of office and secrecy in the Modi Cabinet.

The accident occurred around 6.20 am as his SX4 vehicle exited the Prithviraj Road-Tughlak Road. His car was hit by a Tata Indica car at the Aurobindo intersection.

He was taken to the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) where doctors declared him dead around 7.20 am after attempts to resuscitate him failed.

Dr Amit Gupta of the centre said: “On his arrival at the trauma centre, there was no spontaneous breathing, no blood pressure, no pulse and no cardiac activity. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was immediately started and continued for the next 50 minutes. Munde, however, could not be revived and was declared dead at 7.20 am.”

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan later said Munde’s cervical spine was fractured at C1 (first vertebra) and C2 (second vertebra) due to which oxygen supply to his brain and lungs could have been severed.

Munde’s liver, too, had tear at 2-3 places and there was one-and-a-half litres of blood in his abdomen because of the injury, he said.

Munde, brother-in-law of former BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, is survived by his wife and three daughters, including Pankaja Palwe, an MLA in Maharashtra, who arrived in Delhi soon after the news broke. She was present at the BJP headquarters where the body was placed for people to pay their last respects.

The body was later flown to Mumbai for a state funeral at his native village in Beed district tomorrow. President Pranab Mukherjee, V-P Hamid Ansari, PM Narendra Modi, Union Cabinet, members of the Council of Ministers, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi paid homage to the leader.