Germany’s Altmaier Fractures Nose After Tumbling From Stage

(Bloomberg) -- German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier is recovering in a hospital after falling from the stage following a speech in Dortmund and fracturing his nose.

Altmaier, 61, missed his footing and fell down a set of stairs, also sustaining bruises and grazes to his face, according to his ministry. The audience was asked to leave the room and sheets were held up to shield him from view as he was treated.

“Given the circumstances, he’s doing relatively well,” the ministry said in an emailed statement. It was unclear whether Altmaier, who local media reported briefly lost consciousness after the fall, will be able to attend Wednesday’s cabinet meeting in Berlin.

He was at the event to present a joint Franco-German proposal for cloud-based data storage and canceled a planned news conference.

Lawmakers from across Germany’s political spectrum, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief spokesman and fellow ministers took to social media to wish Altmaier, a member of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, a speedy recovery.

--With assistance from Andrew Blackman.

To contact the reporters on this story: Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net;Birgit Jennen in Berlin at bjennen1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Raymond Colitt, Iain Rogers

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