Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani hospitalised after car crash

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani was hospitalised late on Saturday evening after a car crash near Manchester, New Hampshire, a spokesman said.

Giuliani, 81, suffered a fractured vertebra and multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg, the spokesman, Michael Ragusa, said in a post on social media. He said Giuliani’s rental car was hit from behind at high speed.

Before the accident, Giuliani had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police on her behalf, Ragusa said. He said the subsequent crash was “random and unrelated” to the domestic violence incident.

Ragusa said Giuliani was “in great spirits” and expected to be released from the hospital in a few days.

Giuliani was in a rental car and “no one knew it was him”, Ragusa also said in the social media post.

Another Giuliani spokesman, Ted Goodman, and New Hampshire State Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment and more details about the crash.

“Thank you to all the people that have reached out since learning the news about my Father,” Andrew Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani’s son, wrote in a post on social media. “Your prayers mean the world.”