Farmer standing in queue to buy subsidised onions collapses, dies

This picture has been used for representational purposes.

Vijaywada: The crisis of raising onion prices claim its first victim after a 55-year-old farmer in Andhra Pradesh collapsed and died while standing in a queue to buy subsidised onions. The farmer, identified as R Sambaiah, collapsed and died after suffered a massive cardiac arrest while standing the queue on Monday, The Times of India reported.

According to the police, the incident happened at 6.30 am when Sambaiah join the queue to buy subsidised onions and other vegetables at the local bazaar. A few minutes later, he started feeling uneasy and left the queue to sit on a pavement nearby.

By then few bystanders noticed him and started asking about his health after which he collapsed. The police officers patrolling in the area rushed to the spot and immediately took him to a hospital where the doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

A police officer was quoted saying that Sambaiah had a history of heart attacks and his body has been handed over to the family. The deceased parents told the police that he had undergone angioplasty.

According to the police, the bazaar, which provides onions at Rs 25 per kg, caters to consumers from 28 adjoining villages, resulting in long queues. Onions currently cost between Rs 150 to Rs 180 per kg at the retail market.

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