Legendary US newsman Bob Simon killed in car crash

This March 25, 2014 file photo shows CBS News correspondent Bob Simon attending the "The Unknown Known" screening at Museum of Art and Design in New York City. Longtime "60 Minutes" correspondent Simon, 73, died February 11, 2015 in a car accident in Manhattan, New York, CBS News said. - AFP

WASHINGTON, Feb 12, 2015 (AFP) - Bob Simon, an award-winning war reporter and longtime correspondent for the “60 Minutes” news show, died in a car accident Wednesday. He was 73.

CBS News, which produces “60 Minutes,” did not immediately provide additional details on the crash but paid tribute to Simon and his five-decade-long career.

Based in Saigon from 1971-72, Simon covered the Vietnam War including the end of the conflict. He was on one of the last helicopters out of Saigon in 1975, CBS said.

Simon won many awards for his work -- including 27 Emmys --and covered a slew of stories including the violence in Northern Ireland from 1969-71, as well as from war zones across the globe including Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, the Gulf War and former Yugoslavia.

“It is such a tragedy made worse because we lost him in a car accident, a man who has escaped more difficult situations than almost any journalist in modern times,” said CBS News Chairman and “60 Minutes” Executive Producer Jeffrey Fager.

“Bob was a reporter’s reporter. He was driven by a natural curiosity that took him all over the world covering every kind of story imaginable.

“There is no one else like Bob Simon,” Fager said. “All of us at CBS News and particularly at‘60 Minutes’ will miss him very much.”

According to the New York Post, Simon died when the car he was in crashed into another vehicle.

Colleagues and contemporaries were quick to pay tribute.   Bob was for the last five decades, simply one of the best, in my opinion ... at getting a story, telling a story, writing a story and making it simply unforgettable,” said CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who worked with Simon at “60 Minutes.”

“He was a warrior-poet who loved life and loved people,” said Cooper.

Simon’s death comes during a tumultuous week in the US broadcast media world, with “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart announcing he is quitting and the suspension of NBC’s star anchor Brian Williams for embellishing an Iraq war story.