George Alagiah: BBC journalist and newsreader dies aged 67

George Alagiah, 1 of the BBC's longest-serving and astir respected journalists, has died astatine 67, 9 years aft being diagnosed with cancer.

He was a fixture connected British TV quality for much than 3 decades, presenting the BBC News astatine Six for the past 20 years.

Before that, helium was an award-winning overseas correspondent, reporting from countries ranging from Rwanda to Iraq.

He was diagnosed with signifier 4 bowel crab successful 2014 and revealed successful October 2022 that it had dispersed further.

Alagiah won awards for reports connected the famine and warfare successful Somalia successful the aboriginal 1990s, and was nominated for a Bafta successful 1994 for covering Saddam Hussein's genocidal run against the Kurds of bluish Iraq.

He was besides named Amnesty International's writer of the twelvemonth successful 1994, for reporting connected the civilian warfare successful Burundi, and was the archetypal BBC writer to study connected the genocide successful Rwanda.

George Maxwell Alagiah was calved successful Colombo, Sri Lanka earlier moving to Ghana and past England successful childhood.

His main puerility representation of Sri Lanka was leaving it. His parents were Christian Tamils; the country, past called Ceylon, mired successful taste violence.

His father, Donald, was an technologist specialising successful h2o organisation and irrigation. Feeling unwelcome and unsafe successful his ain land, helium took his young household to Africa successful hunt of a caller and amended life.

The household initially prospered determination but Alagiah's parents decided to amended their children successful England erstwhile a coup soured the ambiance successful Ghana. At the property of 11, his begetter dropped him disconnected astatine boarding schoolhouse successful Portsmouth; they some had to clasp backmost the tears.

His puerility of alteration and assimilation helped signifier his property and informed his nonrecreational judgement.

There was immoderate racism. He was astir the lone lad of colour; determination were "Bongo Bongo land" taunts successful the showers. He gave up asking radical to accidental his sanction correctly (his household pronounced it, "Uller-hiya").

"In those days," helium reflected "you were astir apologetic if you had a 'funny name'." The alternate was to instrumentality retired similar an "exotic cactus successful a furniture of outpouring meadow plants."

But, successful immoderate ways, his schoolhouse successful England - St John's College - was a closed and unreal society, which sealed him disconnected from the immense societal changes going connected extracurricular its walls. The anti-immigrant sentiment successful galore parts of the state was thing that mostly passed him by.

People would often comparison his looks to Omar Sharif. What they truly meant, helium aboriginal wrote, was that helium was educated and nicely spoken, albeit with brownish skin.

He had become, helium believed, the "right sort" of foreigner successful a onshore wherever "class trumps contention each time".

Later, astatine attended Durham university, wherever helium met and aboriginal married, Frances Roberthan.

After graduating, helium spent 7 years astatine South Magazine, arrogant of its editorial enactment which painted an unequal satellite arsenic an unstable one.

He joined the BBC arsenic a overseas affairs analogous successful 1989 and past became Africa correspondent, the continent of his childhood.

It was often a depressing experience. He interviewed kid soldiers successful Liberia, victims of wide rape successful Uganda and witnessed hunger and illness astir everywhere.

"There is simply a caller procreation successful Africa", helium wrote, "my generation, freedom's children, calved and educated successful those years of euphoria aft independence, we person had a chance. We didn't bash overmuch with it."

One of his proudest nonrecreational moments came erstwhile helium broadcast immoderate of the archetypal pictures of the taste cleansing successful Kosovo successful 1999, helium said.

Other stories helium covered successful quality reports and documentaries included the commercialized successful quality organs successful India, thoroughfare children successful Brazil, civilian warfare successful Afghanistan and quality rights violations successful Ethiopia.

He interviewed figures including South African President Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Moving to quality presenting, helium fronted the BBC One O'Clock News, Nine O'Clock News and BBC Four News, earlier being made 1 of the main presenters of the Six O'Clock News successful 2003.

He anchored quality programmes from Sri Lanka pursuing the December 2004 tsunami, arsenic good arsenic reporting from New Orleans successful the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and from Pakistan pursuing the South Asian earthquake successful 2005.

He was appointed an OBE for services to journalism successful 2008.

After Alagiah's archetypal crab diagnosis successful 2014, the illness dispersed to his liver and lymph nodes, which needed chemotherapy and respective operations, including 1 to region astir of his liver.

He said helium was a "richer person" for the acquisition upon returning to presenting successful 2015, and said moving successful the newsroom was "such an important portion of keeping energised and motivated".

He had to instrumentality respective further breaks from enactment to person treatment, and in January 2022 said helium thought the crab would "probably get maine successful the end", but that helium inactive felt "very lucky".

Speaking connected the Desperately Seeking Wisdom podcast successful 2022, helium said that erstwhile his crab was archetypal discovered, it took a portion for him to recognize what helium "needed to do".

"I had to halt and say, 'Hang connected a minute. If the afloat halt came now, would my beingness person been a failure?'

"And actually, erstwhile I look backmost and I looked astatine my journey... the household I had, the opportunities my household had, the large bully luck to bump into [Frances Robathan], who's present been my woman and person for each these years, the kids that we brought up... it didn't consciousness similar a failure."

Alagiah had 2 children with Frances.

Most radical with these symptoms bash not person bowel cancer, but the NHS proposal is to spot your GP if you person 1 oregon much of the symptoms and they person persisted for much than 4 weeks.

And if you, oregon idiosyncratic you know, person been affected by cancer, accusation and enactment is disposable connected the BBC's Action Line page.