Mid-Day

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who had been critical since Wednesday, passed away on Saturday afternoon at 3.33 pm at Matoshree, his Bandra (East) residence. Diagnosed with pancreatic ailments, the 86 year-old leader had been on a non-invasive ventilator. His health had been under the scanner ever since he visited Lilavati hospital for a check-up in July after complaints of breathlessness.

The Sena flag flies at half mast at Sena Bhavan, Dadar. Pic/Satyajit Desai

Specialists, doctors Jalil Parkar, Prakash Jiandani and Abdul Samad Ansari were stationed at Matoshree for over 56 hours attending to the ailing Thackeray. However, despite their best efforts, the Sena supremo’s health kept deteriorating, and Dr Parkar announced Balasaheb’s death outside the Thackeray residence on Saturday afternoon.

Doctors confirmed that the cause of death was a cardio-respiratory arrest. After declaring the news to the media, the doctors were escorted back to Matoshree where they prepared the death certificate of the Sena leader.

Dr Parkar said, “Balasaheb’s condition worsened all of a sudden on Saturday afternoon around 3.15 pm. He went into a cardiac arrest and despite our best efforts to revive him, we could not save him. We even administered regular medication to him but it did not work.”