Detained 58-year-old Indian man dies in US custody

'The cause of death was reported as complications from congestive heart failure

Last week, a 58-year-old Indian man who arrived on a flight from Ecuador died in custody after American customs officials detained him for not possessing immigration documents while entering the country.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Atul Kumar Babubhai Patel into custody and detained him at the Atlanta City Detention Center for two days. He died on Tuesday afternoon at a hospital.



“The cause of his demise is complications from congestive heart failure,” officials stated.

“US Customs and Border Protection denied him entry into the country as he did not possess the necessary immigration documents,” the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement.

Patel received a medical screening and was found to have high blood pressure and diabetes after he was transferred into ICE custody at the Atlanta City Detention Center.

On Saturday, Patel was found to have breathing problems after a nurse checked his blood sugar. He was shifted to a hospital, where he died.

"We are undertaking a comprehensive agency-wide review of the incident, as it does in all such cases,” ICE stated.



Patel’s kin was notified about his death through Indian consular representatives. “Fatalities in our custody are ‘exceedingly rare’ and occur at a fraction of the rate of the US detained population as a whole,” the agency added.

Patel is the eighth person to die in ICE custody in 2017.

This article originally appeared on HuffingtonPost