WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Washington Post (WP) photographer who won the Pulitzer Prize three times died Thursday of a heart attack while covering the Ebola outbreak in Liberia, the newspaper said. He was 58.

Mr Michel du Cille was on assignment with a reporter in a remote region of the West African country when he collapsed while walking back from a village. He was transported on dirt roads for two hours to the nearest hospital but he could not be saved.

The Jamaican-born Mr du Cille was remembered by The Washington Post for his "dramatic images of human struggle and triumph". WP executive editor Martin Baron called him "one of the world's most accomplished photographers".

"He was completely devoted to the story of Ebola, and he was determined to stay on the story despite its risks. That is the sort of courage and passion he displayed throughout his career," Mr Baron said in a statement to WP staff.

The highly respected photographer arrived in Ebola-ravaged West Africa on Tuesday to cover the epidemic which has killed nearly 6,400 people, mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Mr du Cille is survived by wife Nikki Kahn, also a photographer at WP, and two children from a previous marriage.