German officials said Chancellor Angela Merkel was involved in a traffic accident on a highway near Berlin but there were no injuries and only slight damage to the vehicle.
Police spokesman Ingo Heese said the mirrors of a Berlin man’s car and the chancellor’s vehicle hit each other on Sunday afternoon. It was not clear what led to the accident.
Ms. Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday that “the chancellor’s driver didn’t cause this slight accident.”
Ms. Merkel, who is to be sworn in for a third term on Tuesday, however, appeared unruffled by the experience when she appeared at an event in Berlin hours after the accident.
