The BBC newsreader George Alagiah has died at the age of 67 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer nine years ago, his agent has said.
One of the BBC’s best-known journalists, he presented the BBC News at Six for two decades, having previously had a lengthy career as a foreign correspondent.
Alagiah died peacefully on Monday morning “surrounded by his family and loved ones”, according to his agent, Mary Greenham.
She said: “George fought until the bitter end but sadly that battle ended earlier today. George was deeply loved by everybody who knew him, whether it was a friend, a colleague or a member of the public. He simply was a wonderful human being. My thoughts are with [his wife] Fran, the boys and his wider family.”
A fixture on British TV news for more than three decades, he presented the BBC News at Six for the past 20 years.
Before that, he was an award-winning foreign correspondent, reporting from countries ranging from Rwanda to Iraq.
He was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer in 2014 and revealed in October 2022 that it had spread further.
Paying tribute, his agent, Mary Greenham, said: "George was deeply loved by everybody who knew him, whether it was a friend, a colleague or a member of the public.
"He simply was a wonderful human being. My thoughts are with Fran, the boys and his wider family," she said.
Last year, Alagiah's agent revealed that the broadcaster would be taking a break from TV after discovering his cancer, which was first diagnosed in 2014, had spread.
He had returned to the BBC's News at Six in April 2022, noting how being in the newsroom had "been such an important part of keeping energised and motivated".
Former BBC Africa bureau chief Milton Nkosi said it had been "amazing to watch" him work because he was "always very thoughtful in times of war and rebellion and rioting."
He endured two rounds of chemotherapy and several operations, including the removal of most of his liver.
In October 2015 he announced his treatment was over and returned to BBC News At Six on 10 November.
Alagiah joined the BBC in 1989 and spent many years as one of the corporation's leading foreign correspondents before moving to presenting.
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