A German reporter has apologised after she was caught in the act of smearing herself with mud ahead of filming a report on the devastating floods that have at least 128 people. Check out the video here.
39-year-old Susanna Ohlen was suspended after it was claimed that she'd tried to make it look as if she was helping to clean up the flood destroyed town of Bad Munstereifel this week.
Posting on her Instagram this Friday, she said that she had actually helped out earlier in the week, and was 'ashamed' to appear before the emergency workers with a clean body as she gave the live broadcast.
In her native German, Ohlen wrote: "After I had already privately helped out in the region on previous days, on that morning I was ashamed to appear on camera in front of the other aid workers with a clean upper body,
"So I unthinkingly smeared mud on my clothing.
"This should never have happened to me as a journalist.
"It happened to me as a person whose heart was touched by the suffering of all those affected."
RTL.de had previously published an article featuring Ohlen that bore the headline: "Cleaning up after the flood: RTL presenter lends a hand inBad Munstereifel."
They quickly took it down after a video started to circulate that appeared to show the presenter grabbing muddy water off the floor and smearing it on her face.
A statement from RTL said: "Our reporter's approach clearly contradicts journalistic principles and our own standards. We therefore gave her a leave of absence on Monday after we heard about it."
In the video - which appears to have been filmed from a nearby building - Ohlen could be seen in a blue shirt wearing a hat and boots.
The journalist then picked up some mud and smeared it on her clothes and face whilst standing amongst the chaos left behind by the flood.
Ohlen has been a presenter for RTL since 2008 and has hosted the network's evening news programme, as well as Point 12.
At the moment, she currently presents their flagship morning show, Good Morning Germany.
The torrential rain across Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, has caused widespread flooding that has resulted in the deaths of at least 196 people and is thought to have caused billions of Euros' in damage.
Police fear that the death toll in the worst hit parts of Germany such as Ahrweiler could continue to rise.
Featured Image Credit: TwitterTopics: World News, TV and Film, Germany, Weird