Indian comedian Manjunath Naidu passed away after collapsing on stage while performing a stand-up act in Dubai.
The performer, hailing from Chennai, died due to a cardiac arrest caused by high levels of anxiety on July 19 at the Signature Hotel, reported Khaleej Times.
“I was sitting in the front row at the show and Manjunath was the last performer of the night,” PR manager Sana Topiwala said. “The show kicked off around 9:30pm and Manjunath came on around 11:20pm.”
According to Topiwala, within 15 minutes into his performance, Naidu started complaining about growing anxiety.
“He suddenly started to pant and sat down on the bench to catch his breath,” continued Topiwala. “Few minutes in, he suddenly collapsed and fell to the ground in front of an audience of 80 people.”
At first, the audience thought that this was part of the act, however, after three minutes of no movement some of the comics and hotel staff members rushed on stage to administer CPR.
“We called the paramedics and followed him to Al Zahra Hospital Barsha. They attempted CPR, injected him with adrenaline but it was too late. We were informed he died of a cardiac arrest,” she added.
Naidu, 36, was a well respected comedian and had been performing in UAE for the past five years.
His funeral will take place later this week after his elder brother arrives from Malaysia.
