ISLAMABAD: A known journalist and broadcaster Masood Alam, who had died in a road accident on the rainy Tuesday night, will be laid to rest at Islamabads H-11 Graveyard on Friday afternoon at 3pm. He was 48.

His family members had delayed the funeral as his two children, currently studying in Canada, were due to arrive on Friday morning.

Born in Sargodha on September 7, 1965, Masood Alam pioneered BBC’s Urdu online news service and broadcasts on local FM channels in Pakistan with a big success. He had joined BBC in London as producer in 2001 and was made editor of the BBC’s Urdu online news service in 2003.

He shifted to Pakistan in 2007 and launched BBC news bulletins on the country’s local FM channels. He had also authored a travelogue titled “Chalo” (Let’s Move) in Urdu.

Interestingly, Masood Alam had initially joined Pakistan Air Force as a pilot, but retired as pilot officer in late 1980s. Later, he joined Gulf News of the UAE and started his career as a journalist.

Masood Alam had quit the BBC in 2009 and since then he had been contributing for various newspapers and web blogs as a freelance journalist. He has left behind a widow, a son and a daughter to mourn his death.