Pulitzer-prize winning Washington Post photographer dies of heart attack in Liberia

Michel du Cille, a Washington Post photojournalist who won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his dramatic images of human struggle and triumph, and who recently chronicled the plight of Ebola patients and the people who cared for them, died Dec. 11 while on assignment for The Post in Liberia. He was 58.

He collapsed after returning from a village in the Salala district of Liberia's Bong County, where he had been working with Post reporter Justin Jouvenal. He was transported over dirt roads to a hospital two hours away but died of an apparent heart attack.

Du Cille won two Pulitzer Prizes for photography with the Miami Herald in the 1980s and joined The Post in 1988. In 2008, he shared his third Pulitzer, with Post reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull, for their investigative series on the treatment of military veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

He became The Post's director of photography in 2007 but returned to the field as a full-time photojournalist in 2012. He was known for his ability to portray humanity even in dire circumstances.

He was married to Post photographer Nikki Kahn and had two children from a previous marriage.

Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron issued the following statement to The Post's staff:

"I am deeply saddened to report that Michel du Cille died Thursday afternoon while in Liberia documenting the tragedy of Ebola.

"Michel collapsed during a strenuous hike on the way back from a village where he and Justin Jouvenal were reporting. He remained unconscious, and was taken to a nearby clinic, where he had difficulty breathing. He was then transported to Phebe hospital, two hours away, where he was declared dead by doctors.

"Michel had returned to Liberia on Tuesday after a four-week break that included showing his photographs at the Addis Foto Fest in Ethiopia.

"We are all heartbroken. We have lost a beloved colleague and one of the world's most accomplished photographers. Our thoughts and prayers are with Michel's wife and fellow Post photographer Nikki Kahn, and his two children.

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Pulitzer-prize winning Washington Post photographer dies of heart attack in Liberia