Oscar nominee Tim Hetherington and acclaimed photojournalist Chris Hondros died Wednesday while chronicling the gritty violence in the war-torn city of Misrata in Libya, their agencies said.
Two other photojournalists were hurt in the incident, according to news reports.
"The only thing we know is that he (Hetherington) was hit by an RPG with the other guys," said Cathy Saypol of Cathy Saypol Public Relations, Inc. An RPG is a rocket-propelled grenade.
The journalists were walking in the front-line area at the end of Tripoli Street in the western edge of Misrata when the RPG exploded, according to a town resident who wanted to be identified only as "Mohammed" for safety reasons. The group was traveling with rebel fighters, he said.
Hetherington's last Twitter entry appears to have been made on Tuesday: "In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO."
A British native who was based in Brooklyn, New York, Hetherington received an Academy Award nomination this year for "Restrepo," a documentary film he co-directed with journalist Sebastian Junger. Employed by Panos Pictures, he also worked in Afghanistan two years ago with CNN's Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Vanity Fair magazine, where Hetherington, 41, was a contributing photographer, described him as "widely respected by his peers for his bravery and camaraderie." Its profile says he had dual U.S. and British citizenship.
"We are saddened beyond words," Saypol told Vanity Fair.
Hondros, also 41, suffered a fatal brain injury, according to The New York Times, which had a reporter in the hospital and spoke to a colleague at a triage center.
Getty Images, Hondros' employer, said it was "deeply saddened" by his passing:
"Chris never shied away from the front line having covered the world's major conflicts throughout his distinguished career and his work in Libya was no exception. We are working to support his family and his fiancee as they receive this difficult news, and are preparing to bring Chris back to his family and friends in the United States. He will be sorely missed."
Hondros, born in New York City to immigrant parents, won the 2005 Robert Capa Gold Medal from the Overseas Press Club of America for coverage of Iraq. He was a 2004 Pulitzer Prize breaking news photography finalist for "his powerful and courageous coverage of the bloody upheaval in Liberia."