Save the Children worker murdered

A French member of the charity Save the Children was murdered yesterday (Thursday May 1) in eastern Chad.

Pascal Marlinge, 49, was shot and killed while working for the UK charity helping refugees in the war-torn country.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said: “He was savagely murdered. This is a vile and barbaric act.” He added he was asking the Chadian authorities to “shed full light" on the incident.

Save the Children said that when he was killed Mr Marlinge was in a three-car convoy with two vehicles from another humanitarian agency, driving from Farchana to Hajir Hadid, close to the Sudanese border.

A spokesman for the charity said: "Our information is that at about 10.15 the convoy was stopped by a group of armed men.

“A shot, or shots, were fired and Mr Marlinge was killed. The four other humanitarian workers were unhurt.”

Mr Marlinge leaves a wife and a teenage daughter, both living in France, who have been informed of his death.

"Our thoughts are with Pascal's family at this time," said Save the Children UK chief executive Jasmine Whitbread.

"Staff in the UK and in Chad are profoundly shocked and upset. Pascal was loved and respected by all colleagues who have worked with him."

The charity has suspended all work in Chad until further notice and has sent a team to assist in the investigation.