NEW DELHI, July 27: Indian vice-president Krishan Kant, died on Saturday after a heart attack, officials said. He was 75.

The government has declared three days of official mourning for Kant, a trained scientist who would have completed his five-year term on Aug 20.

Kant was rushed to New Delhi’s prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) early on Saturday after complaining of chest pains. Doctors reported he had suffered a massive cardiac arrest, a government spokesman said.

Kant’s embalmed body was to be sent to his official residence for the public to pay their last respects, Sarma said.

Kant was appointed in 1997 through India’s special electoral college for a five-year term.

India’s top political leaders rushed to the hospital on hearing of Kant’s death, including the newly installed president, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani.

Mr Vajpayee paid tribute to Kant as “a leading light in India’s freedom struggle” and called his death “the end of an era”. Kant will be cremated on Sunday. Pakistan expressed “deep condolences,” with President Pervez Musharraf saying he “fondly remembered” meeting Kant during Agra summit last year.

“I had found him to be a man of great learning and goodwill,” Musharraf said in a message to Mr Kalam.—AFP