Russian ambassador to Sudan found dead, fourth envoy to die since last year

world

Updated: Aug 24, 2017 19:10 IST

Russia’s ambassador to Sudan was found dead in a swimming pool at his residence in Khartoum, the fourth Russian envoy to die on the job over the last year.

Sudan’s foreign ministry said ambassador Mirgayas Shirinsky died on Wednesday, according to a statement carried by state-run SUNA news agency. The ministry offered its condolences to the government and people of Russia and praised Shirinsky’s diplomatic efforts while in office.

Authorities in Sudan offered no details on the circumstances surrounding the death but the Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday that Shirinsky, 62, died of a heart attack.

“Everything happened around 6:00 pm local time. The Russian envoy was found in his residence with evidence of an acute heart attack,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

Embassy staff called an ambulance but “Shirinsky could not be saved”, Zakharova said. He was a “great professional,” she added.

Shirinsky had been in the Russian diplomatic service since 1977 and had previously served in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Rwanda. He was appointed ambassador to Sudan in 2013.

He is the fourth Russian ambassador to die on the job over the past year, including UN envoy Vitaly Churkin and India envoy Alexander Kadakin. The ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was shot by an assailant in Ankara in December 2016.