Lara Logan, American TV reporter, suffers “brutal and sustained” sexual assault in Egypt (UPDATES)

American TV reporter Lara Logan "suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault" while covering the resignation of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, according to a statement by her employer,  CBS.

Logan was separated from her crew at a mass rally in Tahrir Square on Friday and was surrounded by a large group of men and she was sexually assaulted and beaten, according to the statement.

She was reportedly saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers.

She eventually reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and went back to the United States on the first flight the next morning.

CBS put out the following statement late Tuesday:

"On Friday February 11, 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. 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. 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."

Earlier in the week Logan reportedly described reporting conditions in Cairo as "frightening."

"Everywhere we went we were approached by people," she said earlier last week. "We were accused of being more than journalists, very frightening suggestions were being made. Suggestions that really could be very dangerous for us."

At least 140 reporters have been injured or killed covering Egypt since Jan. 30, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

On Wednesday, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper reached out to Logan, who has reported from some of the world's most dangerous places.

Cooper, 43, who escaped serious injury while he was covering the unrest in Egypt, "Sickened and saddened by the attack on Lara Logan." And: "She is in all of our thoughts and prayers.”

Logan was reportedly released from the hospital Tuesday late afternoon and resting at her Washington, D.C.-area home with her husband and two children.