German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suffered a pelvis fracture in a ski accident during her Christmas holiday in a Switzerland, forcing her to cancel several meetings and visits scheduled for the coming weeks.
Merkel, 59, fell during a cross-country skiing at the resort of Engadin on the foothills of the Swiss Alps and sustained "severe bruise linked to a partial fracture on the left, rear part of the pelvic ring", a government spokesman said.
Initially, it was presumed that she had a painful bruise, but medical examination last Friday showed a fracture of the pelvis bone.
The Chancellor did not require a hospitalisation and has been advised by her doctors to take bed rest at least for three weeks, the spokesman told a news conference.
She has been walking with the help of crutches and she intends to attend Wednesday's first meeting of her new conservative-social democrat "grand coalition" cabinet, which assumed office on December 17, according to the spokesman.
However, several official engagements scheduled for the coming weeks, including a visit to Poland, the first foreign trip of her third term and a meeting in Berlin with Luxembourg's new prime minister Xavier Bettel have been cancelled.
The spokesman did not say when the accident occurred.
"She fell down during a cross-country skiing. We believe it was at a slow speed," he said.
Merkel had returned to Berlin from her holiday at the end of December and she delivered her New Year's address on December 30.
The news of Merkel's ski injury comes just days after seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher suffered serious brain injuries in a ski accident during his Christmas holiday in the French Alps and was admitted to a hospital in Grenoble, where he has been fighting for his life.
Merkel will carry out a major part of her official work in the coming weeks from her residence, where she is recuperating, the spokesman said.
A meeting of her Christian Democratic Union's (CDU) management board scheduled for later this week has been cancelled.
