UK photographer Paul Conroy injured in Syria

A UK photographer has been injured in an attack on a media centre in Syria that left two other reporters dead.

Paul Conroy, 47, who lives in Devon, was with Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin who died in Homs.

Remi Ochlik, a French photographer, was also killed when a shell hit the makeshift centre in the Baba Amr area.

Mr Conroy's father Les Conroy, who lives in Knotty Ash, Liverpool, said his son had suffered shrapnel injuries to his left leg.

John Witherow, editor of The Sunday Times, said efforts were being made to move him to safety.

'Vital work'

"[Marie Colvin] was with Paul Conroy, the freelance photographer, who was injured in the attack," said Mr Witherow.

"We do not know the extent of his wounds but the early reports suggest he is not too seriously hurt.

"We are doing what we can to get him to safety and to recover Marie's body."

Mr Conroy's wife, occupational therapist Kate from Totnes, told BBC News that she was at work when she saw a headline flash up on a computer saying two Western journalists had been killed in Syria.

"My heart stopped. I saw Marie's name and thought Paul had been killed too.

"Your world comes tumbling around you. I have imagined this scenario so many times over the last 10 to 12 years, then suddenly it became reality."

Half an hour later she heard that Paul had been seriously injured.

Mrs Conroy said one of her sons told her: "This is a wake-up call, maybe he'll stop now."

Internet footage

She said: "That's my hope, but we'll see. He is very driven to tell people's story.

"He is doing an important job and I am very proud but it doesn't make it any easier for us at home."

She said she was "still in a state of shock" and was in touch with the Sunday Times which is working to bring her husband home.

Les Conroy said he had heard his son and Ms Colvin were sheltering in the building when it was hit by mortar fire.

Mr Conroy said he had heard there was footage on the internet of his son being treated in a Syrian hospital.

He said: "We had a look and there it was. I've seen him looking better but I've seen him looking worse.

"When I first heard it was a bit of a shock, but when it comes over on the media like that it is very useful.

"We never thought that we would be seeing him or hearing him speak, without that we would have been sitting here for ages."

Shortlisted for awards

He said hearing about the death of Ms Colvin was a "terrible shock".

"To be out there doing a job like that - which we have all said is vital so that we know what's happening in these places - it was a terrible shock to hear that she had been killed."

Opposition-held districts of Syria have been under siege by security forces for more than two weeks, leaving hundreds dead.

Activists said more than 40 people died on Tuesday.

Mr Conroy is a freelance cameraman and stills photographer who has worked for the BBC and Channel 4.

He has been shortlisted for several prestigious awards along with Ms Colvin.