Veteran Kannada films rebel actor M.H. Ambareesh died at a private hospital here on Saturday night following a heart attack, a duty doctor said. He was 66. "Ambareesh died at around 10.15 p.m. after a massive cardiac arrest (heart attack) a couple of hours after he was brought to our hospital in the evening due to breathing (respiratory) problem," the doctor told IANS from Vikram Hospital in the city centre. The superstar of the sandalwood industry is survived by his widow and multi-lingual actress Sumalatha and son Abhishek.

In a statement on early Sunday, the hospital, however, said, Ambareesh was found unresponsive at his residence (in the city's southern suburb) and resuscitation efforts were initiated at his home and continued en-route to the hospital. "Despite all aggressive resuscitation efforts, Amabreesh could not be revived and is declared deceased at 22.15 on 24.11.2018," added the statement.