Tragedy

Tim Hetherington Dies in Libya

Tim Hetherington, Chris Hondros were covering war.

Prize-winning photojournalist Tim Hetherington died in Misrata, Libya, on Wednesday, Vanity Fair has confirmed. The news was broken on fellow photographer Andre Liohn’s Facebook page, who was reportedly at the hospital. Chris Hondros, a photographer with him at the time, died hours later from severe head injuries. "The doctors at the hospital did their best with professionalism and dignity. My thoughts to Chris' family," Liohn later wrote. Both men were decorated and respected practitioners. Hetheringon, 41 and born in Britain, shot both still photos and video, and worked from Liberia, Sudan, and other war zones. In 2010, he made the documentary Restrepo with journalist Sebastian Junger. The film, which chronicled a year in the life of an American infantry platoon stationed deep in the remote, dangerous Korengal Valley, was nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary. Hetherington wrote about the experience for The Daily Beast in 2010. Hondros, an American, is also a war specialist, shooting from conflict zones in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Shooting for Newsweek, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other leading publications, he was highly decorated. In 2004, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Spot News Photography for his work in Liberia. In 2006, he was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal—named for the famed photographer who was himself killed while working in Vietnam. As recently as Wednesday morning, The Daily Beast used one of Hondros’ photos to illustrate a Libya story. Earlier reports, including one on The Daily Beast, cited Vanity Fair’s incorrect statement that Hondros was killed alongside Hetherington; he died hours later.