Long-time US Senator Edward M Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer since May, collapsed in the middle of the Inauguration Day luncheon honouring President Obama on Tuesday, according to media reports.

Kennedy, 76, the last surviving brother of former president John F Kennedy, suffered a seizure shortly before 3 pm just after Obama took oath as the president, and was taken from the Satatuary Hall in the Capitol in a wheelchair, CNN reported.