CBS' Lara Logan Sexually Assaulted and Beaten During Egypt Uprising

The TV journalism world is rallying behind CBS News correspondent Lara Logan, who was recovering in a U.S. hospital Tuesday after being brutally beaten and sexually assaulted while reporting on the uprising in Cairo.

"We're pleased to report she's recovering well," Katie Couric said during Tuesday night's broadcast of the "CBS Evening News."

CNN personalities Anderson Cooper and Piers Morgan also weighed in.

"Sickened and saddened by the attack on Lara Logan. She is in all of our thoughts and prayers," said Cooper, who himself was beaten Feb. 2.

"Horrified by dreadful attack on CBS reporter Lara Logan - wishing her full and speedy recovery,"  Morgan tweeted.

CBS said in a statement that Logan was out in Tahrir Square on Friday as Egyptian president Mubarak resigned from power. She was covering the celebration in the square when she and her team "were surrounded by a dangerous element" and they were engulfed in a mob of more than 200 people.

"In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew," the statement said about their chief foreign affairs corespondent. "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."

CBS said there would be no further comment on the attack to respect Logan's privacy.

A week before the assault, Logan and two CBS cameramen were detained by Egyptian security and questioned for a day. She was released unharmed and returned to Cairo to continue reporting.

"Everywhere we went we were approached by people," Logan previously described about the crowds in Egypt. "We were accused of being more than journalists, very frightening suggestions were being made. Suggestion that really could be very dangerous for us."

Logan is one of at least 140 journalists that were injured or killed during the protests against Egyptian president Mubarak that broke out in Egypt the past three weeks, according to the Associated Press.

A 39-year-old reporter from South Africa, Logan has been a foreign correspondent for CBS since 2002, currently reporting for the "CBS Evening News" and "60 Minutes." Her beat has taken her to dangerous war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Selected Reading: CBS News, Lara Logan Bio, The Associated Press.

 

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