German Chancellor Merkel injured in ski accident in Switzerland

[News_Editor]

BERLIN, GERMANY (BNO NEWS) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel was injured in a fall while cross-country skiing in southeast Switzerland over the winter holidays, forcing her to cancel international meetings and take rest for the remainder of the month, her spokesman said on Monday.

The accident happened late last month when the chancellor was cross-country skiing in Engadin, a long valley in the Swiss Alps which is home to well-known ski resorts such as St. Moritz, according to her spokesman Steffen Seibert. He said the fall occurred when Merkel was moving at a "low speed" but was unable to say whether anyone else was involved.

"The chancellor fell while cross-country skiing during the Christmas holidays, suffering a bruise that was initially assumed to be just a bruise," Seibert said. "Although it was already painful, after a consult with doctors on Friday, it turned out to be something more than a bruise, which is this so-called infraction."

The spokesman explained the German leader suffered a partial fracture on her left posterior pelvic ring, but said the injury was no cause for regular medical bulletins on her condition. He said Merkel, who is 59, is walking with the help of crutches and will work mainly from home over the next three weeks.

The chancellor has postponed a number of international appointments over the coming weeks, including Wednesday's trip to the Polish capital of Warsaw to meet Prime Minister Donald Tusk and an upcoming visit by Luxembourg's new prime minister, Xavier Battel. "For these international meetings and talks, new dates will be found," Seibert said, adding that Merkel had personally called Tusk to explain the situation.

But Merkel is still expected to head Wednesday's cabinet meeting and other important government meetings that take place in Berlin, the spokesman said. "But appointments outside of Berlin, and also some of the previously announced public events in Berlin, are just cancelled, because the medical advice is to lie down as much as possible," he said.

Merkel has been the chancellor of Germany since November 2005.

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