Veteran CBC broadcaster dies snorkeling

PHUKET: Veteran Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) broadcaster Lorne Saxberg died on Saturday while snorkeling with friends off Koh Khai, Phang Nga. The 48-year-old Ontarian had been holidaying in Phuket.

An officer from Phuket City Police Station told the Gazette, “We received a report at about 4 pm on Saturday that a man had died while swimming in Phang Nga Province. Volunteers from the Kusoldharm Foundation went to recover the body from Rassada Port [where it had been taken by Mr Saxberg’s friends].

“We are not yet sure of the cause of death,” the officer said. “He had had an operation on his heart seven years ago, but we are uncertain if that is connected to the incident. Another possible cause is an attack of cramp while swimming,” he speculated, adding that a postmortem would be carried out at Vachira Phuket Hospital to establish the cause of death.

Mr Saxberg worked at CBC for 27 years. In 1989 he became an anchorman on CBC’s rolling-news channel Newsworld. Recently he had been working for NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) where he received an Edward R. Murrow Award for Hiroshima 60 years later, a program he both wrote and presented.