fall of saigon

fall of saigon

HONG KONG (AFP) — Hugh Van Es, the Dutch photographer whose photo of the 1975 fall of Saigon became one of the most enduring images of the Vietnam war, has died. He was 67. Van Es suffered a brain haemorrhage last week in Hong Kong, where he had lived for many years, and never regained consciousness, colleagues said.

The Dutchman was part of what became a famous generation of journalists who covered the Vietnam war, many of whom paid tribute Friday to his courage, talent and personality. "His sunny demeanour endeared him to his colleagues and to the American and Vietnamese soldiers he photographed," veteran war correspondent Peter Arnett told AFP.

Arnett called him "one of the few Western photographers willing to take the risks of witnessing the war's end."