DHAKA : Eminent journalist and Editor-in-Chief of online news portal bdnews24.com, Toufique Imrose Khalidi, died at a hospital in London on Friday.  He was 59.

Khalidi was on a personal visit to London when he suddenly fell ill. He was taken to St Bartholomew's Hospital on Thursday night after suffering a brain haemorrhage. He was pronounced dead at 2:23pm local time, bdnews24.com reported, quoting family members.

His family has not yet confirmed when his body will be brought back to Bangladesh. The family will announce the time and place of his Namaz-e-Janaza and burial after a final decision is made.

President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Information and Broadcasting Minister Andaleeve Rahman and State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Yasser Khan Chowdhury expressed deep shock and sorrow at Khalidi's death.

Ministers, state ministers and secretaries also expressed condolences in separate messages, praying for the eternal peace of the departed soul and conveying sympathy to the bereaved family.

Born on June 14, 1967, Khalidi began his journalism career in 1989 after completing his postgraduate studies in English Literature at the University of Dhaka. He joined the Sunday Express at the beginning of his career.

He later received special training in international journalism from the Journalists in Europe Foundation in Paris and the Japan Foreign Press Center as a fellow.

Khalidi worked for BBC World Service in London from February 2000 to June 2005. Before joining the BBC, he held several important positions at The Daily Star and The Financial Express.

At The Daily Star, he served as joint editor and news editor of the weekend edition from 1998 to 2000. Earlier, he worked as the newspaper's business editor and diplomatic correspondent.

Khalidi earned international recognition for his contributions to digital media. In 2014, he was recognised as one of 14 leading digital media innovators from the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and West Asian regions at the South-to-South Media Dialogue in South Africa.

He also served as a member of the national committee responsible for formulating and reviewing policies for online mass media.

His death marks the loss of a prominent figure in Bangladesh's journalism and digital media landscape.