Man dies of cardiac arrest in UAE

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 29-yearold man from Kerala, who helped his seven-month pregnant wife return from the United Arab Emirates to India last month but gave up a seat on the same flight to assist another ailing man, died in his sleep on Sunday night after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Nithin was found dead in his flat in Sharjah on Monday.

Doctors in UAE said Nithin suffered cardiac arrest but refused to comment on the possibility of a Covid-19 infection without a post-mortem investigation.

His friends in Kerala said the body will be brought back to his home in a couple of days if Covid-19 infection is ruled out.

Nithin Chandran, 29, and his wife Athira Geeetha Sreedharan, 26, hit the headlines last month after the latter filed a petition in the Supreme Court urging the judges to allow her to fly back to India from Dubai, where Nithin worked as an engineer in a private construction firm.

Her delivery was due in July but aviation laws did not permit a seven-months-pregnant woman to fly. Her plea was disposed off after the Centre informed the court about its decision to bring back Indians.

The husband and wife were offered tickets on the first DubaiKozikkode flight on May 8 by a collective of NRIs and Palakkad legislator Shafi Parambhil. But Nithin gave his ticket to someone else, who was ailing and sponsored two more tickets, said Athira and local authorities. “A good samaritan, he was in the forefront of NRI collective in the UA. He was also offered a ticket ... but he gave it to another person who was really ailing,” said one of his friends, P Praveen.