Journalist Bob Simon of '60 Minutes' killed in car crash last night

Bob Simon, veteran “60 Minutes” correspondent, was killed last night in a New York City car accident. He was 73 years old.

The longtime CBS News correspondent was reportedly in a livery cab on the West Side Highway in Manhattan when the accident occurred.

“The CBS reporter died when the Lincoln Town Car he was riding in crashed with a Mercedes and then lost control and plowed into a pedestrian expansion near 30th Street at about 7 p.m., according to sources,” the New York Post reports.

The driver of the Mercedes claimed that the delivery driver was driving erratically, explaining, “He swerved into me."

Simon was transported to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The cab driver was reportedly taken to Bellevue Hospital Center with non-life-threatening injuries, according to The New York Times.

“Simon's career spanned five decades, from covering the war in Vietnam to a piece on ‘60 Minutes’  this past weekend on the Academy Award-nominated film ‘Selma,’” details CBS News.

As a war correspondent, Simon was captured in January 1991 -- the opening days of the Persian Gulf war -- by Iraqi forces. He and the other three members of CBS News’ coverage team spent 40 days in Iraqi prisons.

Simon won 27 Emmy Awards throughout the course of his career. WTVF

photo via CBS