Bangalore : D Venkatesh, a 25-year-old footballer from Bangalore, died on the pitch on wednesday. The Bangalore Mars striker collapsed on the football field at the Bangalore Football Stadium. The unfortunate incident took place in the 87th minute of the match during the Bangalore Division Football Association A Division league. Venkatesh’s team was leading 2-0 over South Western Railway when he collapsed on the ground.

No ambulance was present at the stadium. Venkatesh’s teammates hired an auto rickshaw and took him to the Hosmat Hospital for treatment. The doctors, however, declared him dead on arrival.

The police, who are investigating the case, said that the footballer died due to a massive heart attack. The exact cause of death will be ascertained only after the postmortem report. His body was taken to Bowring Hospital for postmortem.

This is the third death of a footballer in Bangalore.

In 2004 December, Dempo striker Cristioano Junior had collapsed during a match against Mohun Bagan in the Federation Cup in Bangalore.

While doctors at the Hosmat Hospital had said Junior was ‘brought dead,’ Dempo officials and fans — who gathered at the hospital —blamed lack of adequate medical facilities.  In April last year, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s 24-year-old reserve goalkeeper Arun Kumar also died of cardiac arrest.