Empathy was his greatest strength.. he radiated it

BBC STAR ALAGIAH DIES FROM CANCER AT 67 | News ace George is mourned

- NICOLA METHVEN

HE was the unflappable face of BBC news, loved by colleagues and viewers alike for his warmth and empathy.

Even during his nine-year battle with bowel cancer, his kindness and charm shone through.

George Alagiah, who died yesterday aged 67, leaves a legacy of journalistic excellence that spanned the globe.

Whether reporting on the Boxing Day tsunami that destroyed his grandfather's former home in Sri Lanka, interviewing figures such as Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe, or presenting nightly bulletins as the BBC's main news anchor, he brought the same qualities to his whole career.

Former BBC colleague Allan Little recalled working with Alagiah in Johannesburg.

He said: "Empathy was his great strength. He radiated it. It was rooted in the deepest respect for the people whose lives he was reporting on.

"He could talk to anyone from heads of state to children in a refugee camp on the edge of a war zone. And everyone wanted to talk to him. "You saw him winning their trust, responding to his effortless warmth. He wanted to do well by all of them - to be true and honest and fair."

Newsreader Sophie Raworth named her daughter Georgia after her friend and colleague.

She said: "George radiated warmth. Even towards the very end, he was sending me texts, asking about my mother who was in hospital, also with bowel cancer.

"It was so George mention at all of himself or his worsening health. He  was always thinking about everyone else." He leaves his wife of nearly 40 years Frances Robathan, whom he met at Durham University.

The couple married in 1984 and have two sons, Adam and Matthew, and three grandchildren.