New York - A female CBS News correspondent was recovering in a US hospital on Tuesday from a sexual attack and beating she sustained while reporting on the tumultuous events in Cairo.
Lara Logan was in the city's Tahrir Square on Friday after Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down when she, her team and their security “were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration”, CBS said in a statement on Tuesday.
The network described a mob of more than 200 people “whipped into a frenzy”.
Separated from her crew in the crush of the violent pack, she suffered what CBS called “a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating”.
She was saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers, the network said. The Associated Press does not name victims of a sexual assault unless the victim agrees to it.
She reconnected with the CBS team and returned to the US on Saturday.
The scene last Friday in Tahrir Square - ground zero of 18 days of protests that brought down Mubarak - was primarily one of celebration. People wept, jumped for joy, cheered and hugged one another. Some soldiers stationed at the square ran into the crowd, and the protesters lifted them onto their shoulders.
Other troops stayed at their posts, watching in awe. There were fireworks, the sound of car horns and even some shots fired in the air.
The attack on Logan, CBS News’ chief foreign affairs correspondent, is one of at least 140 others suffered by reporters covering the unrest in Egypt since January 30, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
An Egyptian reporter died from gunshot wounds he received during the protests.
A week before Friday's attack, Logan was detained by the Egyptian military for a day, along with two CBS cameramen. They returned to the US after their release, and Logan went back to Cairo shortly before Mubarak left.
Logan joined CBS News in 2002. She regularly reports for the “CBS Evening News” as well as “60 Minutes”, where she has been a correspondent since 2006. She has reported widely from Iraq and Afghanistan, and other global trouble spots.
CBS said it had no further comment on Logan's assault. - Sapa-AP