CBS News' "60 Minutes" correspondent and foreign reporter Bob Simon died on Wednesday night at the age of 73 from injuries sustained in a car accident, the network announced.The veteran newsman was reportedly a passenger in a town car when it collided with another vehicle in Manhattan around 7 p.m. ET, police told the New York Post. The car Simon was riding in lost control after the collision, plowing into a pedestrian expansion near 30th Street on the West Side Highway, the Daily News rerported. Both the driver and Simon had to be cut out of the cab, according to the Post. Law enforcement sources told the paper that the driver of the town car was treated for a possible heart attack by EMTs. Simon was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, the Associated Press reported. A second man taken to the hospital sustained injuries that were non-life threatening, the according to the New York Times.The 23-year-old driver of the other involved vehicle were not seriously injured, according to the Daily News.This is the car #BobSimon was traveling in. Sadness tonight - RIP #60minutes pic.twitter.com/PCZJagC2OZ' Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) February 12, 2015 A crazy car accident just happened on the West Side Highway here in NY .. Literally 2 minutes from my post where I work at .. I saw the medics taking out an old man .. His legs were bleeding like crazy!! It was bad. I just saw in my CNN app the person in the car was Bob Simon a veteran correspondent from "60 Minutes" and he died. A photo posted by Arjenis Reyes (@areyes90) on Feb 11, 2015 at 6:49pm PSTThe award-winning reporter's career spanned five decades, taking him to conflict scenes around the world. Simon joined CBS in 1967, and then "60 Minutes" in 1996. Over his career, he covered topics including the Vietnam War and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Simon's assignments put him right in the middle of conflict, in one instance leading to his imprisonment for 40 days in an Iraqi jail while covering the Gulf War.60 Minutes mourns the loss of correspondent Bob Simon, who died tonight at age 73: http://t.co/tJK0uRpLTR pic.twitter.com/A5KlkyAW9X' 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) February 12, 2015One of his most notable assignments, "Curveball," detailed the investigation of the Iraqi defector who provided the faulty testimony that eventually led America to war. Simon spent 40 days in an Iraqi jail after being arrested while covering the Gulf War. Just three days before his death, his story "When Selma Meets Hollywood" was broadcasted. He won a total of 27 Emmys.CBS broke programming on Wednesday night to announce the news of Simon's death, as did CNN. "I dreamed of being, and still hope to be, a quarter of the writer that Bob Simon is and has been," Anderson Cooper said.One of the great writers of a generation has passed. Bob Simon was a journalist of extraordinary courage.' Scott Pelley (@ScottPelley) February 12, 2015Simon was born on May 29, 1941, in the Bronx, New York. He is survived by his wife, Franoise, and a daughter, Tanya, who is a producer for CBS News' "60 Minutes" in New York.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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