BENGHAZI, April 21: Tim Hetherington, an Oscar-nominated British film director and war photographer, and award-winning US photographer Chris Hondros were killed and two other western journalists wounded in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata on Wednesday.

Vanity Fair, for which Hetherington was a contributing photographer, confirmed the death of the 41-year-old who covered numerous conflicts and won the 2007 World Press Photo Award for his coverage of US soldiers in Afghanistan.

Hondros, also 41, suffered grave head injuries in the same mortar attack and died hours later from his wounds.

Hetherington and Hondros were the second and third journalist killed in Libya in its two-month-old conflict.

President Barack Obama’s chief spokesman, Jay Carney, said the US leader was “saddened” to learn Hetherington had been killed, in a statement released before the news of Hondros’s death.

“Journalists across the globe risk their lives each day to keep us informed, demand accountability from world leaders, and give a voice to those who would not otherwise be heard,” Carney said.

The White House later released a statement after Hondros was confirmed dead from his injuries, saying his “tragic death underscores the need to protect journalists as they cover conflicts across the globe”.

The Liverpool-born Hetherington produced and co-directed the acclaimed documentary “Restrepo”, which won an Oscar nomination. Pulitzer Prize-nominated photographer Hondros had covered many of the world’s conflict zones.—AFP