(BEIRUT, LEBANON) — A Lebanese-American journalist covering the Syrian conflict for Iran’s Press TV was killed in a car accident in Turkey, which her family and employer says was deliberately planned by Turkish authorities, according to the news agency.
Press TV says Serena Shim was killed in a “suspicious” car accident near the Turkey-Syria border on October 19 as she was working to cover the ongoing war in the Syrian town of Kobani.
She was reportedly going back to her hotel from a report scene in the city of Suruç in Turkey’s Urfa Province when their car collided with a heavy vehicle. The identity and whereabouts of the truck driver remain unknown.
Shim, a Lebanese-American mother of two, covered reports for Press TV in Lebanon, Iraq, and Ukraine.
On October 19, she told Press TV that the Turkish intelligence agency had accused her of spying probably due to some of the stories she has covered about Turkey’s stance on the Islamic State group in Kobani and its surroundings, adding that she feared being arrested.
Kobani and its surroundings have been under attack since mid-September, with the IS militants capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages.
Press TV News Director Hamid Reza Emadi called on the Turkish government “to find out exactly what happened” to Serena, describing the accident as “suspicious,” the report said.