MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) – The chairman of Russia’s Supreme Court, Vyacheslav Lebedev, has been injured in a road accident in Ghana, Russian officials told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
Lebedev, 70, was on his way to Ghana's capital, Accra, on Monday after a speech at the Ghana Bar Association in the city of Ho when a truck slammed into his convoy late that evening, local media reported.
A diplomatic source told RIA Novosti that the Russian Embassy in Ghana is assisting Lebedev, who was rushed to the hospital after the crash.
“Lebedev was involved in a car accident and transported to a military hospital in Accra for medical treatment,” the source said. “The Russian Embassy in Ghana is providing him with all necessary assistance.”
He was airlifted to the 37th Military Hospital in Accra and is being treated at an intensive care unit there, local media reported, citing government officials.
“I’ve talked to Vyacheslav Mikhailovich [Lebedev] tonight, he is feeling absolutely fine, he was awake and was even joking,” the court’s spokesman in Moscow, Pavel Odintsov, told RIA Novosti.
Odintsov added that Lebedev needs to be treated before he can travel to Moscow.
Details of Lebedev’s injuries are still unclear but a Ghanaian government statement said he is “in stable condition.”
One of Lebedev’s security guards was also hospitalized as a result of the crash.
Lebedev arrived in Ghana on September 14 for a four-day visit at the invitation of the African nation's chief justice.
Updated with quotes on Lebedev's condition, minor edits throughout.
