German Chancellor Angela Merkel breaks hip while cross-country skiing in Swiss mountains... but only realises days later

• Doctors told Angela Merkel the injury was an 'incomplete' bone fracture
• She fell at 'low speed' while holidaying near St Moritz, Switzerland
• German Chancellor has cancelled some official meetings while recovering

German leader Angela Merkel has returned from a Christmas and New Year break with a broken pelvis that she didn't know about.

The chancellor was on a skiing trip in Engadin in Switzerland when she fell.
She thought she suffered only bruises but a medical examination when she returned to the German capital Berlin showed she had actually broken a bone.

 

Mishap: Chancellor Merkel, pictured while skiiing at the resort in the Engadine valley of Switzerland on December 22, broke her hip during a fall

Doctors told her she will have to rest for the next three weeks while the injury heals.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said said: 'She suffered serious bruising in connection with a partial fracture on her left posterior pelvic ring.

 'We understand she was going at slow speed on a cross-country ski course when the accident occurred.'

Although she can walk unaided she has been instructed she cannot travel by plane and must lie down as much as possible for the next three weeks.
She will have to cancel a planned visit to Poland and a meeting with the Luxembourg Prime Minister in Berlin.

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Out of action: Angela Merkel, pictured during her skiing trip to St Moritz on December 22, fell at 'low speed' according to her spokesman who said will spend the next few weeks recovering

 

On holiday: The 59-year-old politician, pictured during her trip to St Moritz before Christmas accompanied by two bodyguards, suffered a pelvis injury during a fall

But she will be able to attend the first cabinet meeting of the new coalition government she leads on Wednesday.

'It goes without saying that as chancellor, she is capable of acting as well as communicating fully,' added Seibert (TK).