Pakistan and Afghanistan bureau chief for Reuters, Maria Golovnina, was found dead at her residence located in Sector F-8 in Islamabad earlier today according to the police.
The police said that Golovnina, a Russian reporter, went to office and came back in the afternoon as she was not feeling well. Initial information revealed that she was feeling heavy headed and dropped on the floor after vomiting profusely, said the police.
Dr Ayesha Ishani, the spokesperson for Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), said that she was brought dead to the hospital. Before that she was taken to a private hospital where she was pronounced dead. She further said that it was too early to get to the cause of death.
Contrary to the police version, the spokesperson said that Golovnina was found dead from the washroom of her office, adding that the body was recovered after breaking the door. Post-mortem report will reveal the real cause of death, she said.
“The body has been brought to PIMS so that it can be kept it in the mortuary,” she added.
Golovnina had been working with Reuters as the news agency’s bureau chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan for the past year-and-a-half.
According to her colleagues, the Russian journalist fell unconscious and was rushed to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) where she was officially pronounced dead.
Golovnina’s husband reportedly told PIMS doctors to not carry out a post-mortem examination on her body.