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Poet Hamid Jabar dies on stage

Noted poet Hamid Jabar was buried at the Pondok Rangon cemetery in East Jakarta on Sunday after his body was laid out at his home on Jl. Kelapa Dua Wetan in Ciracas.

Other prominent poets Taufik Ismail, Sutardji Kalsum Bachrie and Amak Baljun attended the burial ceremony. They said the mourned the death of Hamid who is popularly known for his religious poems.

Hamid collapsed on Saturday night while reading out his poem on the stage as part of events to mark the anniversary of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) in southern Jakarta.

As he suddenly fell from the stage, spectators thought Hamid was performing an action, so they gave him an applause, private television station SCTV reported.

Minutes later students, event committee members and others approached Hamid as he did not stand up quickly. They then gave him emergency help, while calling for an ambulance from the nearby UIN's clinic.

Because no ambulance arrived quickly there, students later brought Hamid immediately to the clinic, a UIN security guard told Antara.

He said the poet, however, died on his way to the clinic.

The poetry reading event continued with a committee member announcing the death of Hamid, while noted pop singer Franky Sahilatua sang a song to mourn it along with the spectators. --JP