MOSCOW, May 1 (RIA Novosti) - Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov narrowly escaped injuries after falling from a horse during a national horse racing event on Sunday, BBC reported.
The 55-year-old president left six other riders behind him to win the race, but his horse named Berkarar (The Mighty) stumbled after the finish line throwing Berdymukhamedov flying over its head and landing heavily on the ground.
The president remained lying still for several seconds on the race track before dozens of security guards rushed over to attend him. He was eventually taken away in an ambulance car.
According to a BBC correspondent, there was silence at the stadium for about half an hour with some people beginning to cry expecting the worst news.
However, Berdymukhamedov appeared unharmed after 40 minutes and dressed in a national costume he waved at the audience. The crowd met him with applause.
Turkmen officials later assembled all journalists at the event asking them to delete all footage and video of the incident describing it as a “sporting accident,” BBC reported.
The footage and video, however, were taken out from the stadium and video of the incident was posted particularly on EurasiaNet.org.
