Gujarat, India

India's Gujarat became the scene of tragedy on Monday, when a teenager collapsed mid-dance, due to suspected cardiac arrest. 

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This, as per a Times of India report, is the sixth such sudden death of a healthy individual under 45 years of age in the Kathiawar Peninsula or Saurashtra region.

What happened on Monday?

As per reports, the 19-year-old boy, identified as Vinit Kunvariya, was practicing garba, a traditional Gujarati dance form, for the upcoming Navratri festival season.

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Kunvariya, who belonged to Gujarat's Jamnagar, was mid-dance when he suddenly collapsed. The engineering student was rushed to a nearby private hospital. The institution referred him to GG Hospital, a government hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Also read | Young India's heart health: Cardiologist dispels myths around cardiac activity

The incident happened around 10:30 pm on Monday (Sep 25).

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Dharmesh Rathod, Kuvariya' Garba trainer talking to the press said: "Vinit had been coming to my garba classes for the past two months and was doing well. On Monday too, we were all enjoying ourselves when he suddenly collapsed on the ground. We called a 108 ambulance and took him to the hospital but unfortunately, we could not save him."

Did he have a history of heart ailments?

As per NDTV, speaking to the press, a member of the victim's family said that Vinit did not have any underlying illness and was completely fine.

The case comes to light at a time when India has increasingly seen incidence of young people suddenly collapsing due to cardiac arrests. 

Also read | India: 15-year-old succumbs to heart attack in Greater Noida school while playing

Just last week, in Gujarat's Junagarh, in a similar incident, a 24-year-old man died of a heart attack while practising Garba.

Before that, earlier this month, in Ghaziabad, UP, a young man collapsed while running on a treadmill in gym.

As per the World Health Organisation (WHO), in India, surpassing cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become the most common cause of mortality.