Polish PM remains hospitalised after car accident

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February 13, 2017 7:02 PM

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo will stay in hospital for another couple of days after a car accident last week, a spokesman said Monday, while stressing that her condition is improving.

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo pictured at a welcoming ceremony in Warsaw on February 7, 2017

Polish Prime Minister

The 53-year-old premier "is feeling better and better every day," spokesman Rafal Bochenek told reporters in front of the Warsaw military hospital where she has been treated since Friday.

"Medical observation and recovery will take another couple of days," he added.

Szydlo was riding in a motorcade on Friday evening when a Fiat 600 driven by a 21-year-old man struck her vehicle in the southern town of Oswiecim.

Her car was forced off the road and crashed into a tree, with the front of the car badly damaged. Two security agents including Szydlo's driver were also hurt, one of them suffering serious leg injuries.

Szydlo underwent medical tests in a local hospital before being transported by helicopter to the Warsaw hospital.

She was wearing a safety belt at the time of the crash.

The Fiat's driver has admitted responsibility for the accident and has been charged with causing "bodily harm in a road accident". If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison.

The crash was just the latest road incident involving a senior Polish government official.

Szydlo was unscathed when several cars in her official motorcade were involved in a crash in Jerusalem during a November visit to Israel.

Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz also escaped injury last month when his official vehicle was caught in a pile-up of several cars on an icy highway.

President Andzej Duda was unhurt when he ended up in a road-side ditch last March after a tyre on his official limousine blew.

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