Union rural development minister Gopinath Munde, 64, died of multiple internal injuries caused by the car crash, says his preliminary post-mortem report.
Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences' (AIIMS) Trauma Centre, where Munde was rushed after his car met with an accident at the Aurobindo Marg-Safdarjung Road intersection in South Delhi early on Tuesday morning, said he had sustained significant internal injuries that 'probably' lead to his death.
"He had significant injuries to various internal organs that eventually triggered a heart attack. Heart attack is always the last straw and in his case was a result of severe injuries he suffered from inside in the accident," said Dr Amit Gupta, spokesperson, AIIMS.
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, who spoke to the team that performed the post-mortem, said: "He had two main injuries -- cervical spine fracture at the level of C1, C2 that cut the blood supply to his brain, and liver rupture."
"The spine fracture led to the respiratory and cardiac systems failure, and there was also excessive blood loss due to damage to the liver that had got accumulated inside the abdomen," the minister added.
The AIIMS authorities handed over the preliminary post-mortem report to the investigating officer in the evening.
Munde's post-mortem began around 10.15am and was over within an hour. The body was embalmed at the hospital and handed over to the family around noon.
{{/usCountry}}Munde's post-mortem began around 10.15am and was over within an hour. The body was embalmed at the hospital and handed over to the family around noon.
{{/usCountry}}Munde was taken to the emergency department of the trauma centre at 6.30am by his personal assistant and driver, said spokesperson Dr Gupta.
He was sitting in the back of his car when it was hit by another vehicle around 6.20am.
"On his arrival at the Trauma Centre, there was no spontaneous breathing, no blood pressure, no pulse and no cardiac activity. Immediately, cardiopulmonary resuscitation was started and continued for the next 50 minutes. Despite repeated resuscitative measures, Munde could not be revived and was declared dead at 7.20am," said Dr Gupta.
"Munde was brought to us in an extremely critical state and we did everything possible to revive him," Dr Gupta said.
A number of BJP leaders including Harsh Vardhan, Nitin Gadkari and Prakash Javadekar visited the hospital in the morning.