Italian President's Wife, Clio Napolitano, Hit by Car

ROME – The 73-year-old wife of Italy's president was hit by a car as she crossed a street outside the presidential palace Thursday evening, injuring a leg and an arm, the palace said.

Clio Napolitano, wife of President Giorgio Napolitano, was crossing in a pedestrian crosswalk near the Quirinal Palace when she was hit by a Fiat Panda heading toward a nearby square, the palace said in a statement. She was in good condition at a military hospital.

The palace said X-rays showed the humerus bone in her right arm was injured, as was the tibia bone in her left leg, but it did not say if the bones were broken or bruised.

SKY TG24 said Napolitano had suffered fractures and would have surgery Friday, but the Italian news agency ANSA said no surgery was planned. ANSA said more tests would be done Friday.

A traffic police officer had stopped traffic in both directions as she was crossing when the car went through the crosswalk, the palace said. ANSA, citing Rome traffic police, said two elderly people were in the Fiat.

Giorgio Napolitano was elected president, a largely ceremonial post, by Italy's parliament in 2006.