MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Russian embassy in Islamabad confirmed on Monday that Maria Golovnina, a Russian national who headed Reuters bureau for Pakistan and Afghanistan, had died at the office earlier in the day, and said her family is now to decide on how to bring her body home.
Maria Golovnina, bureau chief for Reuters in Afghanistan and Pakistan, dies after falling unconscious in toilet #rip pic.twitter.com/9EY6TRoIq3
— Khadim Hussain (@ikhadimhussain) February 23, 2015
"We can only confirm the fact of Maria Golovnina's death. She was a Russian citizen. It is up to her family where she will be buried. Our consular office is working in close contact with her father… Reuters will most likely take it upon themselves to organize the transportation of her body back home," a spokeswoman for the Russian embassy in Pakistan told RIA Novosti.
The London-based agency described Maria as a "superb journalist with a long and varied career" whose "talents, energy and can-do spirit will be sorely missed".
A fluent Japanese speaker, Maria joined the Reuters team in Tokyo in 2001. Her prolific career with Reuters took her to the United Kingdom, Singapore, Afghanistan and Iraq, before she was appointed bureau chief for Afghanistan and Pakistan two years ago.