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U.S. pop star Michael Jackson receives the Diamond Award during the World Music Awards at Earl's Court in London in this November 15, 2006. [Xinhua/Reuters]
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World famous U.S. pop star Michael Jackson died here on Thursday afternoon, after being rushed in full cardiac arrest to a local hospital in Los Angeles, where he slipped into a deep coma and was pronounced dead.
The 50-year-old former "King of Pop" was pronounced dead by doctors of the UCLA Medical Center in the afternoon after being sent to the hospital by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics.
Los Angeles Coroner Fred Corral told CNN that the time of Jackson's death was around 2:26 p.m. local time, adding that an autopsy would likely take place on Friday.
Devin Gales, a spokesman of the Los Angeles Fire Department, said paramedics responded to an emergency call for Jackson's home in a wealthy Los Angeles suburb.
Jackson was not breathing when paramedics arrived at the Bel Air estate the singer was currently renting, according to fire department officials.
Jackson, who almost disappeared from the entertainment industry after his acquittal on child molestation charges in a 2005 trial, was actually in the midst of preparing for a series of 50 concerts in London.
When he announced the concerts earlier this year, Jackson said they would be his final on-stage appearances.
Known as the "King of Pop" with the success of albums such as " Thriller," "Bad" and "Dangerous," Jack became an international superstar in the 1980s. His personal life has been constantly in the headlines for tabloid media.
Rising to fame as a child singer, Jackson became a sensation most notably with the 1979 release of the album "Off the Wall," and his status as a pop superstar was cemented in 1982 after the release of "Thriller," an album that generated seven top-10 hits.
However, over the course of his career, Jackson's personal life came under more and more scrutiny, most notably an obvious change in his skin tone. The singer himself told television hostess Oprah Winfrey that the change was caused by a skin disease.
Jackson was tried and acquitted of child molestation charges in 2005. After the trial, he left the United States to live in Bahrain, where he could shun the constant media scrutiny that dogged him in California.
In 2008, Jackson sold his Neverland Ranch, about 100 kilometer north of Los Angeles, because of financial difficulties.
