Two CBS journalists have been attacked on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten by three men hurling anti-gay epithets and wielding tyre irons, CBS News has reported.

The news organisation said that Dick Jefferson and Ryan Smith, both employees of CBS News, were left with severe head injuries after the attack. Both were flown to Miami, Florida for treatment and it is understood that Smith, who sustained a fractured skull, remains in intensive care.

"The police were and are still trying to ignore this situation," Jefferson told CBS News on Monday.

A spokesperson for the island's police force told CBS that they "do not take the ill treatment of any person, whether resident or visitor, lightly and we are pursuing this matter to find the suspects."