KK cremated in presence of family, friends in Mumbai; big wigs attend funeral
PremiumKK, just 53, died in Kolkata on Tuesday night shortly after a performance at a concert, leaving the industry and his fans in a state of shock
Famed singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, better known by his stage name KK, was cremated in the presence of his family and friends in Mumbai on Thursday.
KK's last rites were performed by son Nakul at the Versova Hindu crematorium around 2 pm, just a kilometre away from his home at Park Plaza apartment.
An ambulance adorned with flowers and a picture of KK, carried the singer's body to the crematorium.
The 53-year-old singer's filmmaker friend Vishal Bhardwaj with wife Rekha, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit, Javed Akhtar, Shankar Mahadevan, Udit Narayan, Abhijeet Bhattarcharya and others attended the funeral.
Musicians, including Shreya Ghoshal, Salim Merchant, Alka Yagnik, Rahul Vaidya, Javed Ali, Papon, Shantanu Moitra and Sudesh Bhosale paid their tribute to the singer at his residence.
"It is a big loss. The entire industry is reeling under shock. He didn't have any health issue as such for the few days he had acidity problem," Bhattarcharya told reporters outside KK's residence.
The singer, just 53, died in Kolkata on Tuesday night shortly after a performance at a concert, leaving the industry and his fans in a state of shock.
On Wednesday, the West Bengal government gave a gun salute to honour the singer. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee paid floral tributes to him.
His body was taken to the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport to be transferred to his residence in Mumbai.
What doctors say about KK's death
A doctor who conducted an autopsy on KK said that he had several heart blockages and he could have been saved if CPR was administered on time.
"He had a major blockage in the left main coronary artery and small blockages in various other arteries and sub-arteries. Excessive excitement during the live show caused stoppage of blood flow leading to cardiac arrest that claimed his life," the medical practitioner was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The artiste could have been saved if someone had administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately after he fell unconscious, he added.
He said that the singer had prolonged cardiac problems which remained unaddressed.
“The vocalist had 80% blockage in the left main coronary artery and small blockages in various other arteries and sub-arteries. None of the blockades were 100%," he said.
CPR is an emergency procedure comprising chest compressions as well as artificial ventilation to manually maintain brain function until further steps are taken to restore normal blood circulation and breathing in a person experiencing cardiac arrest.