PhD researcher Arij Altai has died

Linguistics PhD researcher Arij Altai, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, passed away on Saturday surrounded by her family in Iraq.

Earlier this month, there was an urgent fundraising appeal for Arij, who featured on BBC South Today as she was searching for a way to be reunited with her family in Iraq.

Thanks to a £60,000 fundraising effort, which included donations from staff, students and philanthropic donations, Arij was able to fly home a month ago on a private specialist medical flight to Baghdad.

Our thoughts go out to Arij’s friends and family