News Desk
WELLINGTON: Parents of Andrew Bagshaw – a New Zealand scientist who was killed in Ukraine – said their son helped save hundreds of people while volunteering in the dangerous Donbas region as they confirmed his death in a statement on Wednesday.
“Andrew Bagshaw, 47 and his colleague, Chris Parry, 28, were trying to rescue an elderly woman from Soledar, in an area of intense military action, when an artillery shell hit their car,” Bagshaw’s parents, Dame Sue and Phil Bagshaw said.
The Bagshaws termed their son “an ultimate humanitarian” and said that he worked independently and wasn’t affiliated with an aid agency.
They said the deaths, which occurred sometime this month, had only just been confirmed to them.
Returning Andrew’s body to take some time: Parents
The Bagshaws said Ukrainian authorities were working with officials in New Zealand and Britain, but returning their son’s body was being held at a children’s hospital mortuary in the capital, Kyiv.
They added their son was single and is survived by a brother, two sisters, and seven nieces and nephews.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said he had received some preliminary information about the death but was yet to be officially briefed on the matter.
He expressed his condolences to the Bagshaw family, adding “I haven’t had an opportunity to convey that to them yet. It’s obviously a very tragic situation for them.”
Intense fighting has been underway in Soledar as Russia claimed this month that it had retaken the salt-mining town in a rare recent victory in the 11-month conflict.
