CHELSEA — Veteran "60 Minutes" correspondent Bob Simon died in an horrific crash on the West Side Highway Wednesday night when the livery car he was riding in struck another vehicle, lost control and smashed into the median strip, police said.
The 2010 Lincoln Town Car had just left the 57th Street CBS studio and was traveling southbound on the West Side Highway just before 7 p.m. near the Hudson Yards development when it hit the driver's side of a black 2003 Mercedes Benz that was stopped at a red light on the highway at West 30th Street, sources said.
Simon's car spun out of control and smashed into the metal stanchions in the median strip of the highway, authorities said.
The driver, 44-year-old Reshad Abdul Fedahi, and the newsman had to be cut out of the car by first responders.
The 73-year-old Simon, who sources said was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, suffered injuries to his head and body and was pronounced dead at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital, police said.
Fedahi was treated at Bellevue Hospital for broken legs and a broken arm and is expected to survive his injuries, sources said. His probationary Taxi and Limousine Commission license that he received in October has no previous infractions, but has been suspended pending the NYPD's investigation, a TLC spokesman said.
The Long Island City-based company Fedahi works for, Skyline Credit Ride, planned to release a statement later Thursday, a staffer said.
Investigators were still trying to figure out why Fedahi lost control of his car, combing nearby buildings for surveillance footage and examining a black box-like device in the car, sources said.
Police had not interviewed the driver as of Thursday morning, sources said.
"Bob was a reporter's reporter. He was driven by a natural curiosity that took him all over the world covering every kind of story imaginable," "60 Minutes" Executive Producer Jeff Fager said. "There is no one else like Bob Simon. All of us at CBS News and particularly at '60 Minutes' will miss him very much."
The network interrupted their scheduled broadcast to report the news.
.@ScottPelley reports on death of legendary @CBSNews correspondent Bob Simon. http://t.co/WKO96lo8dj http://t.co/hipLdhP62f
— CBSN (@CBSNLive) February 12, 2015
The Bronx-born newsman, who started his career in New York for CBS reporting on student unrest, had been with "60 Minutes" since 1996, according to the network.
News of Simon's death stunned the media world, spurring many to offer their remembrances on Twitter.
CBS News correspondent, Bob Simon, 73, killed in a car accident in New York City on the West Side Hiway. What a loss pic.twitter.com/wNFfU2ODo3
— Al Roker (@alroker) February 12, 2015
#BobSimon blended authority & effervescence like no one else in news. One line of track and u knew whom u were with. pic.twitter.com/jNTFHP54zI
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) February 12, 2015
.@andersoncooper pays tribute to Bob Simon - http://t.co/EwcDWKvfc3 pic.twitter.com/vuDyHSq1Ff — Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) February 12, 2015
