Six hours with PUBG game stops teenager's heart

Neemuch town, known mostly for production and clandestine trade of opium, was stunned to find a teenager dying of a new addiction to online multiplayer game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds or PUBG. Furqan Qureshi, 16-year-old student of class XII, died of a cardiac arrest allegedly after he played — for six hours continuously — on Monday.

Furquan's family had arrived at the family hometown Neemuch for a wedding. His father said Furqan was a swimmer and had a healthy heart.

Furkhan's family said he started playing the game after lunch and around 7pm he started shouting at other players before collapsing on the bed.

He had complained of severe headache before he fell. Furqan's younger sister, Fiza, present at the spot, said he suddenly started shouting, "Blast it... blast it." Furqan was also heard shouting "Ayan, you got me killed and made me lose the game. I won't play with you again."

"The severe cardiac arrest that was possibly caused by sudden deep shock.. It's possible that since the teenager had been playing the game for long hours at a stretch, he could have delved into some kind of syndrome from which it was difficult to come out.

"The excitement of the video game might have caused a surge in adrenaline causing increased heart rate and cardiac arrest," said Dr Ashok Jain, who attended on the teenager.

"We had come to our home town Neemuch for the marriage of his cousin some days back. Despite being scolded over playing the game for long hours, Furqan continued to play the game on phone," said Furqan's father Haroon Rashid Qureshi.

Furqan's brother Hashim said he was also an addict of the game. But he has now deleted it from his phone after brother's death.

The game was developed and published by PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of South Korean video game company Bluehole. The game has been downloaded more than 360 million times around the world since its release in late 2017.

The Gujarat government recently banned the game in the state following concerns about its impact on the "behaviour, conduct and language" of players.

Indo-Asian News Service