Legendary "60 Minutes" correspondent and CBS News foreign reporter Bob Simon died Wednesday night in a car crash in New York City. He was 73.

During his 47-year-long career, the veteran journalist covered news stories all around the world and developed a stellar reputation for reporting on several different wars.

"Bob Simon was a giant of broadcast journalism, and a dear friend to everyone in the CBS News family. We are all shocked by this tragic, sudden loss," CBS News President David Rhodes said in a statement, according to CBS News. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Bob's extended family and especially with our colleague Tanya Simon." Tanya Simon is Bob Simon and works as a producer at "60 Minutes."

"It's a terrible loss for all of us at CBS News," "60 Minutes" Executive Producer Jeff Fager said. "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.

"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," Fager added. "There is no one else like Bob Simon. All of us at CBS News and particularly at 60 minutes will miss him very much."

Simon, who won 27 Emmys and four Peabody Awards, was riding in the backseat of a for-hire Lincoln Town Car around 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday on New York City's West Side Highway when the crash occurred. According to the New York Police Department, the town car rear-ended a Mercedes-Benz and then crash into the median separating north and southbound traffic.

Simon suffered from head and torso injuries and was pronounced dead at the St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital. The livery cab driver was taken to another hospital where he was treated for injuries to his arms and legs and listed in stable condition. Police were investigating the accident, but no charges had been filed.

The driver of the Mercedes, 23-year-old Zachery Miller, told the New York Post he spotted the black car driving erratically before the crash.

"He swerved into me. He hit me, and he looked like he lost control of the car," Miller said.

Simon joined CBS News in New York in 1967 after working as an American Foreign Service officer for three years. The Bronx native is also known for having spent 40 days in an Iraqi prison, reports USA Today.

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