Pacquiao saddened by passing of '60 Minutes' correspondent

Filipino boxing champ and Sarangani Rep. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao on Thursday voiced sorrow over the death of CBS News correspondent Bob Simon.

 

Pacquiao, in a post on his Twitter account, said he had fun being interviewed by Simon on "60 Minutes."

 

"I am very sorry to hear the sad news about Bob Simon.  We had fun doing the 60 Minutes story. May God bless Bob and his family," he said. 

 

CBS News, in a statement, said Simon - its "60 Minutes" correspondent and foreign reporter - died Wednesday night in a car accident in New York City. He was 73.

 

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

 

CBS said Simon was riding in the backseat of a livery cab around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday on New York City's West Side Highway when the car rear-ended another vehicle.

 

New York Police said the cab then crashed into barriers separating north- and southbound traffic.

 

"Simon's five-decade career took him through most major overseas conflicts spanning from the late 1960s to the present. He joined CBS News in 1967 as a New York-based reporter and assignment editor, covering campus unrest and inner city riots. Simon also worked in CBS News' Tel Aviv bureau from 1977-81, and worked in Washington D.C. as the network's State Department correspondent," it said.

 

He is survived by his wife, Françoise, and their daughter, Tanya, who is a producer for 60 Minutes. —Joel Locsin/JST, GMA News