Further heavy fighting in Misrata as photographers killed in the city are mourned
One of Chris Hondros's final photos, filed on the day of his death, showing rebel fighters moving into a building during street fighting in Misrata. Photograph: Chris Hondros/Getty Images
9.44am: More people have been killed in Misrata, according to Reuters. Following a night of heavy mortar fire from government forces, a rebel spokesman said three rebel fighters were killed by mortar rounds today, with 17 other people injured.
9.35am: There are, inevitably, many hundreds of tributes to Hetherington and Hondros around the web and Twitter. For those with a bit of time this morning, a couple of the more interesting ones include Diary, Hetherington's very personal short film about his work and an affectionate tribute to Hondros on the New York Times's photography blog. The latter, which recounts Hondros' apparent fondness for tweed jackets, even in war zones, has a slideshow beginning with perhaps his most famous shot – a screaming Iraqi child, covered in blood after her parents where shot dead by US soldiers at a checkpoint, one of the most iconic, memorable and horrific images of that conflict.
9.27am: My pulling together of various news agency reports from Misrata, being bombarded by government forces, is now live. One of the most vivid elements comes from Abdul-Athim Salim, a local professor of geography who spoke to the Associated Press:
The number of artillery shells and mortars is truly amazing. The only break is when they are changing ammunition. Other than that, it's continuous. It just keeps going... About three times, I have just been out driving my car and a mortar has landed in front of me on the road.
9.15am: Good morning, and welcome to our blog of the latest developments in Libya and, as they happen, elsewhere in the Middle East. In the UK and US the main story remains the death in Misrata of two leading photojournalists, British-born Tim Hetherington, 40, and Chris Hondros, 41, a US national who worked for the Getty Images photo agency.
Whatever the understandable focus on the death of two relatively young, very talented and highly respected professionals, the fact remains that they are among an increasing number killed or seriously injured in the besieged western Libyan city, the scene of increasingly brutal urban fighting. We'll have a round-up of the situation in Misrata – and the foreign response to it – soon.
In the meantime, here's what we have so far today.
• Harriet Sherwood in Tripoli reports how the US plans to send $25m worth of non-lethal equipment to Libyan rebels, further emphasising the sense of "mission creep" in the foreign response to the civil war.
• Our main story about Hetherington and Hondras, and the injuries to two other photographers, Guy Martin and Michael Christopher Brown.
• We also have retrospectives of some of best work by Hetherington and Hondras.
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Documentary maker Tim Hetherington and photographer Chris Hondros killed
Hetherington, co-director of Sundance-winning film Restrepo, and Pulitzer finalist Hondros were killed in Misrata, Libya
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Xan Rice in Misrata and Josh Halliday
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 20 April 2011 19.17 BST
Article history
Tim Hetherington co-directed the Sundance-winning film Restrepo
Two leading photojournalists have been killed covering escalating violence in Misrata, and two other western photographers working with them were injured.
Oscar-nominated British documentary-maker Tim Hetherington, 40, co-creator of the Sundance-winning documentary Restrepo, was killed covering fighting between Muammar Gaddafi's forces and the opposition.
Photographer Chris Hondros walks through the streets in Monrovia, Liberia. Hondros, 41, has died after being seriously wounded while on assignment in Misrata, Libya Photograph: AP
Chris Hondros, 41, a US Pulitzer finalist who works for Getty Images, was also killed. His work has appeared in magazines and newspapers around the world. His awards include World Press Photo honours and the Robert Capa gold medal, one of the highest prizes in war photography.
The British photographer Guy Martin, who works for the Panos agency, was critically injured. The fourth man was reported by the New York Times to be photographer Michael Christopher Brown, but his condition was not said to be life-threatening.
According to colleagues at the scene, Hetherington and Hondros were among eight to 10 journalists reporting from Tripoli Street in Misrata. When shooting broke out, they took shelter against a wall, which was hit by fire. Hetherington died soon after arriving at hospital.
Hetherington wrote in his last post on Twitter on Tuesday: "In besieged Libyan city of Misrata. Indiscriminate shelling by Gaddafi forces. No sign of Nato."
His family issued a statement last night: "It is with great sadness we learned that our son and brother, photographer and film-maker Tim Hetherington, was killed today in Misrata, Libya by a rocket-propelled grenade.
"Tim will be remembered for his amazing images and his Academy award-nominated documentary Restrepo. Tim was in Libya to continue his multimedia project to highlight humanitarian issues during time of war and conflict. He will be for ever missed."
The journalist and film-maker James Brabazon, a close friend of Hetherington, told BBC2's Newsnight: "Tim was a leading light of his generation – it's really not an exaggeration to say that his eye and his ability, what he did, was unique.
"His reportage really defined a generation of covering conflict.
"The main thing about Tim to understand is that he was fundamentally a humanitarian. A lot of the work that he did wasn't just for the news or for magazines, but was for human rights organisations as well."
"Right now I think what Tim would be concentrating on, as much as anything, is the plight of the civilians in Misrata. That's why he was there, to tell their story."
Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter said Hetherington was "about as perfect a model of a war photographer as you're going to find these days".
In an editorial for the magazine he said: "He was a rangy, charming workhorse of a photographer."
"There were few like Tim, and there will be fewer like him. He had a deft eye and unwavering dedication."
Peter Bouckaert, a friend of Hetherington's who works for Human Rights Watch in Geneva, said Hetherington had been planning to "slow down" and start a family with his partner. "He really was a person who cared very deeply for the civilians affected by conflict," he told BBC News.
Tyler Hicks, a photographer for the New York Times who worked alongside Hondros, said: "Chris made sacrifices in his own life to bring the hardships of war into the public eye, and that dedication created award-winning photographs that shaped the way people viewed the world. I'm grateful to be among the many people who were lucky enough to know him. He will be missed."
"I was just with Tim two weeks ago in Benghazi, the rebel capital. I had my last lunch with him and he told me about the wonderful relationship he was in with this Somali woman and how he wanted to spend more time and slow down and make kids. It is a tremendous loss."
Andre Liohn, a colleague of the photographers who said he was at the hospital in Misrata where they were taken, wrote on his Facebook page yesterday afternoon: "Sad news Tim Hetherington died in Misrata now when covering the front line."
Liohn added an hour later: "Chris Hondros died now."
Hetherington and Hondros are believed to be the first western journalists killed covering the conflict. The al-Jazeera cameraman Ali Hassan al-Jaber was killed when fighters ambushed his car as he travelled to Benghazi on 12 March. Mohammad Nabbous, a reporter for Libya Alhurra TV, was killed seven days later in Benghazi.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said about 10 journalists have been killed covering the Arab Spring uprisings this year out of 14 deaths worldwide.
The international criminal court warned Libyan authorities about the treatment of journalists yesterday. Around 16 journalists are missing in the country, it said.Liverpool-born Hetherington won numerous awards for his coverage of conflict zones. Restrepo, a war documentary following a platoon of US troops in Afghanistan, won a prize at the Sundance film festival this year. Hetherington co-directed it with journalist Sebastian Junger.
• This article was amended on 21 April 2011. The original referred to Tim Hetherington as an Oscar winner, and Chris Hondros as a Pulitzer winner. This has been corrected.
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