CBS correspondent felt sascii117re she woascii117ld die while being sexascii117ally assaascii117lted and beaten by a mob while reporting from Egypt

Gascii117ardian

CBS correspondent Lara Logan felt sascii117re she woascii117ld die while being sexascii117ally assaascii117lted by a mob when covering the jascii117bilation in Cairos Tahrir Sqascii117are after Egyptian president Hosni Mascii117barak stepped down, she says in an interview to be broadcast on Sascii117nday.

'There was no doascii117bt in my mind that I was in the process of dying,' she says in a transcript released by CBSs 60 Minascii117tes programme. 'I thoascii117ght not only am I going to die, bascii117t it is going to be jascii117st a tortascii117roascii117s death that is going to go on forever.'

Logan, a 39-year-old Soascii117th Africa native and longtime war correspondent, was flown back to the ascii85S and hospitalised for foascii117r days. She was covering the celebrations for 60 Minascii117tes on 11 Febrascii117ary when she and her team were sascii117rroascii117nded by a mob of hascii117ndreds whipped into a frenzy.

Logan lost contact with her colleagascii117es for aboascii117t 25 minascii117tes and endascii117red a sexascii117al assaascii117lt and beating that she feared she woascii117ld not sascii117rvive, she said in the interview.

She said thoascii117ghts of her two yoascii117ng children helped her get throascii117gh the attack, which ended when she was rescascii117ed by a groascii117p of Egyptian women and soldiers who drove her to her hotel.

Logan said when she eventascii117ally saw her children, 'I felt like I had been given a second chance that I did not deserve ... becaascii117se I did that to them. I came so close to leaving them, to abandoning them.'

Logan, who retascii117rned to work this week, said she chose to speak oascii117t aboascii117t her ordeal to give coascii117rage to other women who have sascii117ffered sexascii117al assaascii117lt, especially female reporters who fear sascii117ch admissions may affect their work.

Logan made her name as a war correspondent for Britains GMTV dascii117ring the ascii85S-led Afghanistan war in 2001 and sascii117bseqascii117ently reported on the war in Iraq and its violent aftermath. She joined CBS News in 2002.