Veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon was killed in a tragic car crash in Manhattan. INSIDE EDITION reports on details and the tributes that are pouring in.
Tributes are pouring in for veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon, who was killed in a horrific car crash last night on the West Side Highway of Manhattan.
Simon was heading downtown when his town car reportedly started swerving and hit a Mercedes. It then plowed into the central divider.
There is also a report that Simon's driver may have had a heart attack, although it's not clear if it happened before or after the crash.
The 73-year-old newsman was taken to St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital with head and body injuries but doctors couldn't save him.
CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley was close to tears when he broke into prime time programming last night to announce the tragic news.
Anderson Cooper, a colleague of Simon's on 60 Minutes, spoke movingly of the legendary newsman.
Just last Sunday, Simon appeared on 60 Minutes with a story about the movie Selma.
Simon's daughter, Tanya is a producer for 60 Minutes. She was working with her father on a segment about Ebola, scheduled to air this weekend.
Simon was born in the Bronx, a few blocks from Yankee Stadium. He graduated Brandeis University Phi Beta Kappa and spent nearly five decades with CBS News, covering stories from all corners of the globe.
In 1991 he was captured by Iraqi forces while covering the Gulf War and held captive for 40 days.
In the wake of yesterday's crash, Katie Couric tweeted: "Heartbreaking news. A brilliant writer and reporter and someone I admired deeply."
CNN's Candy Crowley said Simon was "a courageous, no-nonsense reporter with the touch of a poet."
60 Minutes Executive Producer Jeff Fager said in a statement: "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."
