Bob Simon, CBS' veteran journalist who gained fame for his stint as 60 Minutes correspondent, died Wednesday night after getting involved in a car crash in New York City. He was 73.

CBS President David Rhodes was shocked and saddened by the death of Simon, who he considered as "a giant of broadcast journalism."

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"It's a terrible loss for all of us at CBS News," 60 Minutes Executive Producer Jeff Fager said of Simon, whose "natural curiosity" enabled him to cover "every kind of story imaginable" around the world.

Simon was riding in the backseat of a livery cab around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday on West Side Highway in New York City when the vehicle hit another vehicle, crashing into barriers that separated north- and southbound traffic, according to New York City Police.

Simon's 47-year career made him one of the most critically-acclaimed and honored journalists of his era, winning 40 major awards, including four Peabody honors and 27 Emmys, the highest so far for a field reporter. His work took him to some of the worst overseas conflicts from the 1960s until his death.

Simon's extensive background in war reporting started in Vietnam, then took him to Northern Ireland from 1969-71, and also to war zones in Portugal, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, the Persian Gulf, Yugoslavia and American military actions in Grenada, Somalia and Haiti. He was eventually named CBS News' chief Middle East correspondent in 1987, which stationed him in Tel Aviv for more than 20 years.

One of Simon's worst nightmares came during the Persian Gulf War in 1991 when the Iraqi army imprisoned and tortured him and three other CBS News colleagues.

His coverage of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1996 was one of the most critically acclaimed moments in his life, winning him one more OPC Award, a Peabody Award and two Emmy Awards.

His last work for 60 Minutes, an interview with Ava DuVernay, director of the Oscar-nominated film Selma, was aired last weekend.

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