Bolivia crash kills BBC reporter

Lola Almudevar began working at the BBC in 2002

A BBC journalist working in Bolivia has been killed in a car crash to the south of the main city of La Paz.

Lola Almudevar was travelling in a taxi in the early hours of Sunday as she made her way to Sucre to cover ongoing political unrest in the city.

The taxi collided with two trucks which had already crashed. Four others, including the lorry drivers, also died.

Ms Almudevar, 29, joined the BBC in 2002, and worked on docu-dramas and for BBC Midlands before moving abroad.

Paying tribute to Ms Almudevar, the BBC said:

"Lola was only 29 years old and had been making a major impression on everyone who'd heard her lively and original journalism. She was building a great reputation and will be terribly missed by us all."

Reuters journalist injured

The accident occurred at 0320 (0720 GMT) on Sunday on a motorway near the village of Ayo Ayo, about 87 km (54 miles) south of La Paz.

According to local reports two lorries had been involved in a collision on the motorway and had stopped on the road.

She lit up lives wherever she went David Holdsworth BBC Head of Regional and Local Programmes in the West Midlands

Ms Almudevar's taxi was travelling behind, and crashed head-on into the lorries just moments later.

Clotilde Fernandez, the wife of the taxi driver, and three men, including the two lorry drivers, were also killed in the crash.

Eduardo Garcia, a Spanish reporter working for Reuters who was travelling with Ms Almudevar, was seriously injured.

Three Bolivians were also hurt.

Ms Almudevar and Mr Garcia had been en route to the city of Sucre which has been the scene of deadly clashes following the approval of a new draft constitution by a special assembly there.

There are currently no flights to Sucre because of the unrest.

Awards

Ms Almudevar, from Nottingham, England, was the daughter of a Spanish father and British mother.

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She graduated from Leeds University in 1999 and started her career in journalism on the university newspaper, Leeds Student.

Ms Almudevar subsequently moved to Brussels where she worked for the European Union.

In 1999 she won the Heinz-Schwarzkopf Foundation's Young European of the Year prize for her efforts in promoting understanding among young people from different cultures through her journalistic work, both as a professional and student.

'Talented'

She joined the BBC in the Midlands in 2002 and worked on local radio and TV programmes, including Midlands Today and Inside Out.

In 2006, Ms Almudevar and fellow BBC video journalist Brady Haran won an award for their co-production of Alexandra Road, a 10-part series following the lives of the residents of a road in Wolverhampton.

She took a sabbatical in 2006, travelling to Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Bolivia, where she began working six months ago, producing pieces on a wide range of issues, including Bolivia's abandoned children, attempts to legalise coca leaf sales abroad, and the challenges facing Bolivia's President Evo Morales.

David Holdsworth, the BBC's Head of Regional and Local Programmes in the West Midlands, where Ms Almudevar worked, said of her:

"Lola was an extremely talented young journalist who was passionate about storytelling.

"She will be hugely missed by all her colleagues in the Midlands, where she had many friends.

"She lit up lives wherever she went."