US reporter sexually assaulted while covering Egypt protests

The alleged attack comes just a week after Logan and her crew were detained overnight in Cairo before being interrogated and deported back to New York.

CBS said in a statement that the newscaster was the victim of a 'sustained sexual assault' and had to be saved by a group of women and 20 soldiers, reports the Daily Mail.

In the latest incident, Logan was reporting in Tahrir Square, Cairo, last Friday after Egypt President Hosni Mubarak stepped down, when she was separated from her crew and surrounded by a mob of 200 people.

"On the day Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down, CBS correspondent Lara Logan was covering the jubilation in Tahrir Square for a '60 Minutes' story when she and her team and their security were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration," said CBS.

"It was a mob of more than 200 people whipped into frenzy. 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," it said.

"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," it added.

CBS said it would make no further comment.

"Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time," the network said.

South Africa-born Logan, 39, is an experienced war reporter and was the only journalist from a US network in Baghdad when American troops invaded the city.