Man dies of heart attack on Piccadilly

Horrified shoppers watched as a man collapsed and died on the spot in central London.

A man in his 50s fell to his knees when he suffered a heart attack as he walked along Piccadilly yesterday lunch time.

Emergency services arrived and attempted to resuscitate the man, who had been walking with the aid of a stick.

Two ambulance crews were called but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A spokeswoman for the London Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 1.25pm to reports of a person taken unwell on Piccadilly. We sent two bicycle responders, a motorcycle responder, two ambulance crews and a duty officer.

“The patient, a man reported to be in his 50s, was in cardiac arrest. Our staff made extensive efforts to resuscitate the patient, but he sadly died at the scene.”

Eye Witness Iyad Obeido, 28, from Kilburn said: “People slowed down and there was a large group watching the paramedics try and resuscitate him. I was praying that he would live. It was quite an upsetting thing to watch.”

Traffic along Piccadilly was stopped between 1.30 and 3pm yesterday.