Lahore: A 64-year-old Sikh pilgrim from India on Saturday died of cardiac arrest at a gurdwara in Rawalpindi district of Pakistan's Punjab province.
Sardar Malkiyat Singh, who had come to the country on November 4 along with his wife to celebrate the birth anniversary of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak Dev at the Sikh holy city Nankana Sahib, died of cardiac arrest at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, 45 kms from Rawalpindi.
"After attending the main festival at Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib on November 6, Singh along with his wife Raj Kaur left for Gurdwara Panja Sahib," Amer Hashmi, spokesman of Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), which looks after the holy places of minorities in Pakistan, told PTI.
"Today, while taking part in the festivities he felt pain in his chest following which, he was rushed to a hospital in Rawalpindi where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
"Doctors say he suffered a massive heart attack," Hashmi said, adding, Malkiyat Singh hails from Delhi.
"ETBP chairman Saddiqul Farooq spoke to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Beijing, who ordered immediate arrangements to send the body to India via Wagah," he said.
"Now after the prime minister's permission, his body will be sent to India via Wagah tomorrow morning," Hashmi said.
The chairman offered his condolences to Raj Kaur and also spoke to their daughter in India.
