Pope sustains cut and bruise in accident

Pope Francis sustained a cut and bruise to his face when his popemobile had to brake suddenly in Cartagena on Sunday, causing the head of the Catholic Church to hit his head on the glass.

After the accident, the Pope was bleeding slightly from a cut above his eyebrow, and a bruise was visible below his eye.

The accident occurred when the Pope bent down to greet a child, and the popemobile braked suddenly to avoid a person who ran out into the road from the gathered crowd.

One of Francis's aides wiped the blood from him, and he continued to wave to the crowds.

Francis's popemobile barely moved through the crowds in some parts of Cartagena, the last stop of his visit to Colombia.

'I got hit, everything is fine'

After arriving at the venue for the final mass, the Pope was given a new "mozzetta" (a white garment worn on the chest), as a few drops of blood had fallen on the previous one, and a plaster above his eye.

"I got hit," he joked. "Everything is fine," he then added to the crowd, as reported by Hina.

The Vatican later confirmed that Francis was not seriously injured.

"The Pope is fine. He was hit on the cheekbone and eyelid," said spokesman Greg Burke.

(Al Jazeera)