Anton Hammerl

Anton Hammerl (12 December 1969 – 5 April 2011) was a South African photojournalist who was shot and killed by troops loyal to Muammar Gaddafi outside of Brega while covering the First Libyan Civil War on 5 April 2011.

After his death, Hammerl's family was led to believe by the Gaddafi regime that he was alive and safe, but held in detention in Libya.

His family learned about his death on 19 May after the release of a group of journalists who had been with Hammerl when he was killed.

Hammerl was one of five journalists killed during the civil war.

His remains have not yet been located.

Anton Lazarus Hammerl was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on 12 December 1969 to Ludwig and Freda Hammerl.

Hammerl attended King Edward VII Primary and Roosevelt High School.

When his photographic studies ended in the early 1990s, he began his career in photojournalism.

Hammerl also served in Angola with the South African Defence Force.

After completing national service, he enrolled at Pretoria Technikon to study photography.

In 1992, Hammerl began working as a freelance photojournalist for The Star, where he met colleague and mentor, Ken Oosterbroek.

A South African, Oosterbroek was a member of the Bang-Bang Club.

After working with The Star, Hammerl began to freelance for Associated Press, covering South Africa democratisation and the end of apartheid.

In 1995, Hammerl, while continuing his work with The Star, began working as a senior photographer for independent South African newspapers the Saturday Star and the Sunday Independent.

In 2001, he became the picture editor and chief photographer at the Saturday Star.

In 2003, Hammerl married Penny Sukhraj.

They had two children.

Hammerl was also a father to a daughter from a previous relationship.

Hammerl was a dual citizen of Austria and South Africa.

From 2006 until his death in 2011, Hammerl went back to being a freelance photojournalist in London.

According to media reports, on the morning of 5 April 2011, three other reporters beside Hammerl were attacked by Libyan soldiers who shot at them in a remote desert location outside of Brega.

These included two Americans: James Foley, a freelance reporter and regular contributor to the Global Post, and Clare Morgana Gillis, a freelance reporter (Atlantic Monthly, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today), as well as Spanish photographer Manu Brabo.

When the shooting started, Foley and Gillis both heard Hammerl yell out, "Help!"

Hammerl was killed and the other three journalists were beaten by the pro-Gaddafi forces and then taken as their prisoners.

Foley stated: "Once I saw Anton lying there dead, it was like everything had changed. The whole world has changed. I don't even know that I felt some of the blows."

Gillis said, "We all glanced down at him as we were being taken by, and I saw him just lying in a pool of blood. And then we were put into the truck and our heads were pushed down. We weren't able to see anything that happened after that to him."

After the attack in which Hammerl was killed, Libyan authorities gave Hammerl's family false information for some 45 days that Hammerl was still alive.

Before Hammerl began his journey, two journalists had already been killed while covering the Libyan civil war.

Both Ali Hassan al-Jaber and Mohammed Nabbous had been killed in Benghazi during the month of March.

In the meantime, the front, although fluid, had moved westward.

He flew from London to Libya on 28 March to cover the uprising against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

According to his family, Hammerl last talked to them 4 April and told them he would drive with a group of journalists to a rural location some distance from their Benghazi base.

A day later, Hammerl was killed in the desert outside of Brega.

The reporters were headed toward the front lines of battle when they walked into a fight between rebels and Gaddafi forces; the latter shot Hammerl and captured the others.

Hammerl's body was left behind in the desert.

At the time, eyewitness reports were printed that said the car in which Hammerl and the journalists had been riding was destroyed after its occupants were removed, but no death was reported.

Hammerl's family was notified that he was missing and they asked South Africa to aid them in gaining his release.

On 7 April, Human Rights Watch contacted Hammerl's wife, stating they believed Hammerl was captured, along with two American journalists and a Spanish photographer, by Gaddafi loyalists.

Hammerl's wife contacted the South African consular officials in London and, since South Africa no longer had a diplomatic staff in Tripoli embassy, it passed the information on to officials in South Africa.

On 8 April, Human Rights Watch informed Hammerl's family that Libyan authorities confirmed that it had captured four journalists, including Hammerl, the two Americans and a Spaniard.