India, Oct. 8 -- The grieving family of a 'strict vegetarian' who died on board a Qatar Airways flight says that he choked on a piece of food while trying to eat around the meat. Asoka Jayaweera, an 85-year-old cardiologist from California, was served a non-vegetarian meal on a Qatar flight from the US to Sri Lanka.

Jayaweera had booked his flight to Colombo on June 23, 2023. A week later, he boarded the flight at Los Angeles International Airport.

Jayaweera, a strict vegetarian, had ordered a vegetarian meal during his 15-and-a-half hour long flight. However, a Qatar flight attendant told him that there were no vegetarian meals left and he was instead given a regular meal with meat.

The 85-year-old was instructed to "eat around" the m...