Sameer Khandekar, dean of student affairs at IIT Kanpur, was delivering a lecture on good health when he collapsed on the stage due to a cardiac arrest. He was declared dead upon arrival by the hospital, the institute said.

While addressing the alumni meet on Friday, he had asked everyone to take care of their health moments before he started sweating profusely, according to reports. Before anyone could make sense of what was happening, he collapsed on the dais.

An IIT-Kanpur professor told news agency PTI that Khandekar was diagnosed with high cholesterol levels about five years ago. He was the dean of student affairs and also the head of the mechanical engineering department.

Former IIT Kanpur director Abhay Karandikar, expressing shock over the sudden death, described Khandekar as an outstanding teacher and researcher.

“It’s unbelievable! The news of my friend Prof. Sameer Khandekar’s (Professor in Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kanpur) sudden and very untimely passing has left us in deep shock and sadness. A cherished colleague always full of energy and enthusiasm. Our thoughts are with his family during this difficult time. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. Rest in peace, dear friend,” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Mr Karandikar said the body has been kept at the IIT-Kanpur’s health centre and the funeral would be performed only after the arrival of his only son Pravah Khandekar who is studying at Cambridge University.

A plane carrying several Indian passengers detained near Paris due to suspected human trafficking is free to leave today, a French court ruled on Sunday. But it is not clear if the plane will return to India.

The Nicaragua-bound plane has 303 passengers, mostly Indians, according to the Indian embassy. An anonymous tip-off over human trafficking led to its grounding at the Vatry airport when it arrived from Dubai for refuelling.

French prosecutors on Sunday allowed the Airbus A340 to leave France after questioning the passengers for two days, the local prefecture said in a statement, adding that a full approval for their departure is expected today.

Vatry in eastern France is about 150 km from Paris and the airport serves mostly budget airlines. The grounded Airbus A340 belongs to a Romanian charter company named Legend Airlines.

The Paris prosecutor said the action came after an anonymous tip-off that some of the passengers on board the plane were “victims of human trafficking”. Two men were detained for questioning by a specialised unit.

The stranded passengers were provided makeshift beds and access to toilets and showers, besides meals and hot drinks at the Vatry airport, an official said. Ten Indian passengers had even applied for asylum, reported news agency AFP.

A lawyer claiming that she represents the Legend Airlines said they believed it had done nothing wrong, committed no offence “and is at the disposal of French authorities”. She said the airline will take legal action if charges are filed.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it recovered the bodies of five hostages who were killed while in Hamas captivity. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) also released a video showing a Hamas tunnel network in Gaza City after locating three bodies on Sunday, following the retrieval of two others from a different area two weeks ago.

“In a centralized intelligence effort, IDF troops located and recovered the bodies of 5 hostages abducted during the October 7 massacre and brought them back to Israel,” the IDF posted on X.

In a centralized intelligence effort, IDF troops located and recovered the bodies of 5 hostages—abducted during the October 7 Massacre—and brought them back to Israel:

🕯️WO Ziv Dado
🕯️SGT Ron Sherman
🕯️CPL Nik Beizer
🕯️Eden Zacharia
🕯️Elia Toledano

May their memory be a… pic.twitter.com/tq1UlLo8Z2

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 24, 2023

Earlier this month, the bodies of Ziv Dado, a 36-year-old Israeli soldier, and Eden Zakaria, a 27-year-old attendee at a music festival in southern Israel attacked by Hamas, were recovered after being taken hostage on October 7. The remaining three bodies, identified as Sgt Ron Sherman, Cpl Nik Beizer, and Elia Toledano, have now been found on the eve of Christmas.

Footage posted by the IDF on X shows Israeli troops paying their respects to the fallen hostages. “The three fallen soldiers that we have recovered from here today, and it is a supreme value to bring our people to a proper burial in the Land of Israel,” remarked a soldier in the video.

On Saturday, Hamas reported losing contact with a group responsible for the five hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip, speculating that they had been killed during an Israeli raid. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said at least 60 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Sunday. 

On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel from Gaza. According to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, approximately 1,140 people lost their lives in the assault, with the majority being civilians.

Hamas and other Palestinian militants seized around 250 hostages during the attack. Of these hostages, 105 have been released, while several others have died, including casualties from friendly fire incidents.

In response, Israel launched an unrelenting air and ground offensive with the declared aim of destroying the militant group. According to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, the conflict has claimed the lives of at least 20,424 people, with a disproportionate number being women and children.