Pranab Mukherjee was Back Home from Hospital

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee was discharged from the Army Hospital here Tuesday, three days after suffering head injuries in a road accident in West Bengal.

A team of medical specialists reviewed the minister's health Tuesday morning and was satisfied with his fast pace of recovery.

A round of investigations and scans on Mukherjee, including CT (computed omography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans of head and chest, Monday ruled out bone and internal injuries. He is now able to walk around, a medical bulletin issued by the Army Research and Referral Hospital here said.

"His vital parameters continue to be within normal limits. He has a lacerated wound scalp, which is clean and has nine sutures. Apart from this, there are no other bone or soft tissue injuries," it added.

The 72-year-old Congress leader, who heads a number of crucial inter-ministerial committees, sustained head injuries when a truck hit his car at Bethuadahari, 130 km from Kolkata, Saturday night. The truck swerved out of control after one of its tyres punctured and overturned on Mukherjee's car while he was on his way to Kolkata from Murshidabad, where he had gone to inaugurate a book fair.

After initial treatment near Kolkata, the minister was flown to New Delhi Sunday in a military aircraft. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was present at the airport to receive him and kept in touch with the hospital authorities about his health.

But for the accident, Mukherjee would have been in Riyadh Monday. He was scheduled to go to Saudi Arabia on a three-day visit to further intensify ties between New Delhi and Riyadh.

Mukherjee is not expecting any high-profile visitor from abroad this week, official sources told IANS. The minister is all set to get busy again next week when Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko may be in India.

Source-IANS
MED/L