LONDON: A British woman working for a London-based media charity who was heading to Iraq has been found dead at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, the organization said on Monday.

“We at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) are devastated to announce the death of our country director in Iraq, Jacky Sutton,” said the group, which supports and trains local reporters in conflict zones.

The 50-year-old was found dead on October 17 having flown from London to take an onward flight to her base in Irbil in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

IWPR said it was still trying “establish the facts” surrounding her death, but Britain’s press reported she was found hanged in the airport toilets.

Turkish media said she had become distressed after missing a connecting flight and having no money to buy a new ticket.

Friends and colleagues paid tribute to Sutton, and were quick to dismiss suggestions that she had killed herself. During her career, Sutton worked with humanitarian organizations and the United Nations and worked as a producer for the BBC.

Sudipto Mukerjee, a country director with the United Nations Development Programme, wrote on Twitter: “Very difficult to believe that my colleague @undpiniraq staffer and seasoned traveler @JackySutton committed suicide.”