Italy's first lady hit by a car

ROME: Italy's first lady, Clio Napolitano, was hit by a car as she left the presidential palace fracturing bones in herleg and arm, the president's spokesman said on Friday.

Although not seriously injured, the wife of President Giorgio Napolitano was being treated at a military hospital in Rome and was expected to undergo further checks on Friday.

She was hit late  yesterday while on a pedestrian crossing just outside the Quirinale palace, in the historic centre of Rome. Local media reports said the driver of the car was a 74-year-old woman who was questioned by police. There was no word of any arrest.

The first lady, 72, and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, who turned 82 on Friday, had just returned from Austria at the time of the accident.