Restrepo co-director Tim Hetherington killed in Libya

Tim Hetherington, co-director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Restrepo, was killed Wednesday in Libya at the age of 41.

The incident occurred in the Libyan city of Misurata, and three of Hetherington’s fellow photojournalists were injured by what is believed to have been a mortar. Chris Hondros and Guy Martin, two of the injured men who were working alongside Hetherington, were described as being in “grave” condition. Michael Christopher Brown was also injured in the attack, but the injuries he sustained were considered to be not life threatening.

The Los Angeles Times describes the circumstances under which the attack occurred:

The journalists had been working near the front lines with a local militiaman in an area contested by snipers and other fighters loyal to Kadafi. The journalists apparently were returning on foot to more secure territory when they were hit by the fire.

Hetherington had not updated his Twitter between February 27th, around the Oscar fanfare, and yesterday. The photojournalist posted a single tweet yesterday, which read:

In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Qaddafi forces. No sign of NATO.