Doha-based Al Jazeera English web producer Claudia Theophilus has been killed in Lebanon, her employer has confirmed.

The 42-year-old Malaysian was in Beirut on holiday last week and not on assignment at the time of her death, a spokesman for the network told Doha News.

According to the Star, a Malaysian newspaper, Theophilus was shot dead while in Baakleen, in the mountains of Lebanon, around 2:30am Saturday morning.

The report cited the Malaysian ambassador in Beirut, who said that an initial police investigation indicated that her death was an accident.

Many colleagues of Theophilus in Doha are still reeling after hearing news of the tragedy this morning, and are searching for answers. “Everyone is speechless,” one AJE employee told Doha News.

The investigation into the cause of her death continues.

Credit: Photo via Twitter