Friday 4 April 2014

Award-winning German photographer shot dead as Afghan policeman opens fire on their car



Anja Niedringhaus, 48, has been described by colleagues as 'vibrant, dynamic and well-loved'


A veteran Associated Press photographer was killed and an AP reporter was wounded on Friday when an Afghan policeman opened fire while they were sitting in their car in eastern Afghanistan.

Anja Niedringhaus, 48, an internationally acclaimed German photographer, was killed instantly, according to an AP Television freelancer who witnessed the shooting.
Kathy Gannon, the reporter, was wounded twice and is receiving medical attention. She was described as being in stable condition and talking to medical personnel.
The pair had been covering the lead-up to the Afghan general elections - a scene that provided a complicated setting for the final pictures Niedringhaus would file.
'Anja was a vibrant, dynamic journalist well-loved for her insightful photographs, her warm heart and joy for life,' said AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll, speaking in New York.
'We are heartbroken at her loss.
'Anja and Kathy together have spent years in Afghanistan covering the conflict and the people there.'
Niedringhaus is the 26th journalist and fourth German to be killed whiled reporting in Afghanistan since 2001.
She is the third journalist killed in the past month alone, following the death of Swedish reporter Nils Horner in Kabul on March 11 and Agence France-Presse reporter Sardar Ahmad on the 21st.
With a moving series of portraits in what was to be her final assignment - children playing, workers loading trucks and armed policemen manning a school in Kabul - Niedringhaus perfectly captured the scenery and the mood surrounding the looming vote.


Source-Dailym

No comments:

Post a Comment