New York, April 15, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) mourns the death of Argentine camerawoman Veronica Cabrera. She is the first female journalist to die while covering the war in Iraq. Her death brings the total number of journalists killed in this conflict to 13.

Cabrera, who was traveling with fellow America TV correspondent Mario Podestá, died today in a Baghdad hospital from injuries she sustained yesterday in a car accident on the highway between Amman, Jordan, and the Iraqi capital. Podestá was killed instantly in the crash. [Click here to read yesterday's alert.]

Eduardo Cura, the station's news director, told CPJ that Podestá and Cabrera were part of a convoy of journalists trying to get into Baghdad before nightfall. Cura said that a tire explosion in the car in which the two journalists were traveling caused the accident.

CPJ is investigating reports that gunfire was heard in the vicinity just before the accident happened.