A TV news correspondent who narrowly escaped tragedy during the Bastille Day lorry attack has died after battling an incurable illness.
Nicoleta Drăgușin had a career spanning more than 25 years as an international correspondent.
Her very first day on the job came on 11 September 2001 – the day of the World Trade Center attacks.
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The extremely aggressive illness she faced in the final months of her life progressed rapidly and unexpectedly, according to Romanian media.
Nicoleta, who died aged 46, was born in Roșiorii de Vede, south-west of Bucharest.
She began working in journalism while still studying International Relations, graduating in 2002.
She later became CNN’s first correspondent in Romania and, from 2011, also worked as a correspondent for France 24, as reported by Need To Know.
Her career also took her to OTV and Realitatea TV, where she served as director of the international news department.
She coordinated coverage of the Iraq War for the latter and, in 2003, reported from the ground on the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.
Nicoleta was also in Kyiv during Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2005 and was the only Romanian journalist to report from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
In 2008, she moved to Turkish broadcaster Kanal D, initially working as news editor before becoming executive news manager.
In 2016, she was in Nice, France, at the time of the Bastille Day terrorist attack in which 86 people were killed.
The day after the attack, she told Kanal D News: “I’m still shaken by what happened last night. I’m on the French Riviera and we were due to go to this event, one of the biggest held for Republic Day…
“Last night there were dozens of victims lying on the ground, the lorry was driven for two kilometres through the crowd, and the area is now being examined by investigators and forensic teams.”
In April 2024, following the death of Pope Francis, Nicoleta reported from the Vatican, covering the funeral, the conclave and the election of Pope Leo XIV.
Her passing was announced by Kanal D on Wednesday (14 Jan), and she was laid to rest in Domnești on Friday (16 Jan).
She is survived by her husband, fellow Kanal D journalist Ionuț Mihalcea.
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