Safaa Hegazy, former Egyptian TV state anchor, passes away

Cairo - Safaa Hegazy, former Egyptian state TV anchor and head of the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU), passed away earlier today, May 28, 2017. 

Hegazy had made her name presenting “Bayt al-Arab” (The Arab House), a position she held for twenty years. During her work on the show as a state TV anchor, she interviewed Arab heads of state and diplomats, and coveredactivities of the Arab League. She began to gain prominence when she interviewed Atef Sedqi, the long-serving former Prime Minister of Egypt in 1980s.

Hegazy was appointed as director of the ERTU in 2016, replacing Issam Al Amir. Colleagues described her as "an iron lady."

Hegazy was at the center of controversy last year when the ERTU suspended eight female anchors for being “overweight,” calling their appearance “inappropriate”. The move caused uproar, and was widely seen by feminist social critics as an attack on women.

Her cause of death was not specified, outside of being described as an “illness”. Funeral proceedings have been initiated at Al Sayeda Nafeesah Mosque, in Cairo, this noon.