A CBS correspondent was sexually assaulted in Egypt on Friday, Feb. 11, the day Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS News said in a statement posted on their website.
Lara Logan was reporting on the celebration underway in Egypt in Tahrir Square in Cairo for 60 Minutes when a mob of 200 people “whipped into a frenzy,” the statement says.
“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. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently in the hospital recovering.
“There will be no further comment from CBS News and correspondent Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time,” CBS News said in the statement.
Widespread abuse of journalists was reported during the early days of the protest. CNN showed footage of Anderson Cooper and his team being attacked by pro-Mubarak supporters as they tried to report on the demonstrations.
Two New York Times reporters, Souad Mekhennet and Nicholas Kulish, along with their driver were detained by Egypt’s secret police.
The two reporters said in a Feb. 4 article that “Captivity was terrible. We felt powerless.”
