US reporter was sexually assaulted in Egypt: CBS

  

   NEW YORK (AFP) - Top CBS foreign correspondent Lara Logan suffered a "brutal" sexual assault at the hands of a mob in Egypt while covering the downfall of president Hosni Mubarak, the network said Tuesday.

   "She and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration. It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into a frenzy," CBS said in a statement.

   "In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers."

   The incident took place on Cairo's central Tahrir Square last Friday, the day Mubarak stepped down, CBS said.

Captured from YouTube

   Logan was flown to the United States the next day. "She is currently in the hospital recovering," the statement said.

   South African-born Logan has covered the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, becoming one of the US media's most recognizable war correspondents. She became CBS News chief foreign correspondent in 2006.