Yeltsin Suffers Bumps, Bruises in Moscow Collison
Russian republic President Boris Yeltsin badly bruised his right hip and bumped his head in a car accident Friday morning in downtown Moscow, the news agency Tass said.
Yeltsin’s chauffeur-driven Volga sedan was struck by a car driven by an elderly man at an intersection northwest of the Kremlin, police said.
The accident occurred after a traffic policeman had stopped all vehicles moving toward the Kremlin, but motioned Yeltsin’s car to proceed.
Yeltsin’s driver started to make a left turn when it was struck by a compact Zhiguli. Tass quoted the driver, identified only as pensioner Yerin from the town of Khimki outside Moscow, as saying he did not see the traffic officer’s signal and did not notice Yeltsin’s car until it was too late.
Yeltsin, 59, was taken to a hospital, where doctors found his right hip had been badly bruised but was not broken, Tass said.
“Besides, Yeltsin’s head received a slight shock,” said Ruslan Khasbulatov, first vice president of the Russian Parliament.
Arkady Maslennikov, spokesman for Supreme Soviet Chairman Anatoly I. Lukyanov, said Yeltsin was back at work in Parliament later Friday.
“You will agree that this alone tells he is all right,” Khabulatov said of the popular politician.
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