Ca sĩ huyền thoại Michael Jackson qua đời khi mới 50 tuổi sau khi bị trụy tim tại tư gia ở Beverly Hills. Jackson, người vốn có tiền sử về sức khỏe, đang chuẩn bị quay trở lại công diễn tại Anh vào tháng Bảy tới đây.

Nghe toàn bài

Michael Jackson's body was airlifted from hospital to the coroner's office in downtown Los Angeles. TV stations here carried live coverage of the helicopter's journey. An autopsy will be carried out later today to establish the precise cause of his death.

Paramedics had been called to the Beverly Hills mansion Michael Jackson had been renting whilst he prepared for a series of fifty sold-out shows in London next month. The singer's brother Jermain told a news conference that after they failed to resuscitate him, Jackson was transferred to a nearby hospital where a team of doctors worked for more than an hour in a vain attempt to revive him.

Only a few hours earlier Michael Jackson had been rehearsing at a local sports stadium, but concerns about his fitness for the concert tour had already begun to circulate, amid reports that he was looking frail. Hundreds of fans have maintained a vigil outside the hospital to which he was taken, some to mourn his passing, others to celebrate his music.

For the all the controversy that surrounded the latter part of his career several commentators here have likened his musical legacy to that of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley.

David Willis, BBC News, Los Angeles

Nghe các từ

airlifted
được đưa bằng trực thăng (trong trường hợp này là để cấp cứu)

coroner's office
văn phòng bác sĩ giảo nghiệm

carried live coverage
truyền hình trực tiếp

paramedics
các nhân viên y tế cấp cứu

sold-out shows
các buổi biểu diễn đã bán hết nhẵn vé

resuscitate
làm sống lại, làm ai tỉnh lại

vain attempt
nỗ lực tuyệt vọng

frail
yếu ớt, mỏng mảnh

maintained a vigil
duy trì, tiếp tục việc cầu nguyện (thường là dành cho một người mới qua đời)

mourn his passing
thương tiếc sự qua đời của một ai đó