A major blow to American reporting, '60 minutes' correspondent, Bob Simon dead at 72

Bob Simon, a veteran news correspondent who had spent over five-decades in the news business, has died, following a car accident that took place in New York on Wednesday night.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The 73-year-old CBS anchor was killed after his livery cab collided with a Mercedes on the West Side Highway, the New York Post has reported.

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Simon's cab apparently hit the Mercedes while it was stopped at a light, and proceeded to crash into the metal barriers between lanes. Simon was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, while the driver of the cab was apparently treated for injuries to legs and arms.

The driver of the Mercedes reported that the cab had apparently lost control before the crash, swerving prior to the impact.

Simon, who was an anchor on CBS's major program, "60 Minutes" began his career in the Vietnam war, and had visited numerous war zones during his long career. The 27 times Emmy winner visited Northern Ireland, Cyprus and the Falkland islands, Portugal, the Persian Gulf, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Haiti, Poland and Grenada.

In 1987, Simon was named as CBS's chief Middle East correspondent, and had worked out of the American bureau in Tel Aviv for 20 years.

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He was also captured by Iraqi forces in 1991 during the first Gulf War, and spent forty days in an Iraqi prison, an experience behind his book "Forty Days" about the incident.

While he was imprisoned, CBS had written up an obituary in case he was killed, and when he was released alive and well, it was given to him as a gift.

The news world immediately reacted to news of Simon's death, and an outpouring of grief took place among colleagues on Twitter and other social media platforms.

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