Moldovan President Igor Dodon involved in car crash Published duration 9 September 2018

media caption Footage shows the crash involving Moldovan President Igor Dodon

Moldovan President Igor Dodon has been injured in a traffic accident north-west of the capital Chisinau.

A lorry overtook a vehicle in wet weather near the town of Straseni and crashed into the presidential convoy.

One of the cars in the convoy overturned. President Dodon was taken to hospital but suffered only scratches and bruises, officials say.

The 43-year-old, an ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin, has led the former Soviet Republic since December 2016.

image copyright EPA image caption Mr Dodon is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin

Pictures posted on social media after Sunday's accident show the wreckage of a car by the side of the road.

The accident comes just hours after Gennady Gagulia, the prime minister of Abkhazia, a Russian-backed republic that broke away from Georgia in the 1990s, died in a car crash.