Anderson Cooper and his crew, in Cairo, Egypt, to cover anti-government protests for CNN, were attacked Wednesday by supporters of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Reuters reported.

The CNN team escaped with scratches, the story said, even as the protests turned deadly.

“The incident occurred as supporters of Mubarak rushed a crowd of his detractors, charging on horses and camels and wielding sticks and petrol bombs. The anti-Mubarak protesters fought back by throwing rocks at their attackers,” the story says.

Cooper described the incident in a telephone interview with Reuters, which reported, “He and his CNN crew were walking through a crowd of Mubarak supporters heading toward the melee, when a man tried to grab their camera. Members of the crowd punched and kicked Cooper in the head and body, and set upon the rest of the crew, including female producer Maryanne Fox, he said.”

"We were moving quickly and a bunch of guys who hit us were also on the move; a lot of it was sort of glancing blows," Cooper said.

Cooper added that some of the people in the crowd tried to tear off Fox’s clothes, the story says.

"There was some thought that maybe someone in the crowd recognized me, but I couldn’t know for sure," Cooper said. "I think anyone with a camera is under threat in that crowd."

ABC’s Christiane Amanpour also reported that she and her crew had a confrontation in Cairo, apparently with protesters.

"An angry mob surrounded us and chased us into the car, shouting that they hate America," Amanpour said. "They kicked in the car doors and broke our windshield as we drove away."