Josephine Ann Harris, the 70-year-old owner of the "Ann's Place" diner in Akron, complained of fatigue and a tingling feeling after Obama left the premises and was rushed to hospital.

She was later pronounced dead of an apparent heart attack, the local Akron Beacon Journal newspaper said.

Obama stopped by the restaurant on the second day of a bus tour through Ohio and Pennsylvania. He ate two eggs with bacon, wheat toast and grits as he had breakfast with three tire factory workers.

The president called Wilma Parsons, the daughter of the dead restaurant owner, when he heard the news of her mother's death.

"I think you all saw the report, the sad news that Ann passed away this afternoon," Obama's spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Air Force One.

"You know, the president met with her at the restaurant. She actually wasn't there when he arrived, but she came, and other members of her family, and he met with her," Carney said.

"The president expressed his sorrow and his condolences -- a very sad event. He was honored to meet her this morning, and passed on his feelings that the whole family is in his thoughts and prayers today." AFP