Angela Merkel suffers injury on ski holiday in Switzerland

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suffered a pelvis injury during a skiing holiday in Switzerland, putting her on the sidelines for the next three weeks.

Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said Monday that the chancellor suffered what she first thought was just a bruise to her left rear pelvic area while cross-country skiing.

Doctors told her on Friday that the injury was in fact an "incomplete" bone fracture that will require her to rest for three weeks.

Seibert told reporters that Merkel would need to cancel a number of official appointments in the coming weeks but would continue to lead the government and hold Cabinet meetings.

He says Merkel's fall occurred "at low speeds" but was unable to say if another person was involved.