Maradona survives head-on crash with tour bus in Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- Scandal-prone former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona survived a car crash in Cuba late Wednesday, escaping with light bruises after the jeep he was driving collided head-on with a tourist bus, friends said.

The 39-year-old soccer idol, who has been undergoing treatment for drug addiction in communist-ruled Cuba, was taken to a hospital by ambulance after the accident outside Havana.

But he was later released after doctors determined he had suffered no serious injury.

"Fortunately, he's fine ... he has a bruised left leg and he's a bit shook up by the impact but it's nothing important," his friend and representative Guillermo Coppola told Reuters.

Maradona had bruises on his left knee and ankle.

An Argentine friend, Carlos Fierro, was traveling with him when the crash occurred. He suffered only a sprained shoulder and was also released from the hospital.

The Cuban driver of the tourist bus, which was not carrying any passengers, was uninjured in the collision.

Witnesses said Maradona's four-wheel-drive jeep was badly damaged at the front on the driver's side.

Coppola said that was because Maradona tried to swerve to shield his friend, Fierro, from the impact. "Diego's instinct was to protect his friend," Coppola said.

The accident happened some 20 miles from the center of the Cuban capital. "The road was badly lit and it was raining," Coppola said, without elaborating further.

There was no immediate comment from Cuban authorities.

Maradona and Fierro had set off at night to visit friends at Guanabo, a beach resort east of Havana, after watching on satellite television a match played by Maradona's former team Boca Juniors.

The two had been forced to take a long detour around Havana Bay because the bay road tunnel, which normally carries traffic directly east, was being repaired.

After their release from the hospital, Maradona and Fierro returned to the exclusive Havana health center hotel where the former Argentine national soccer team captain has been staying since he arrived in Cuba in January to receive treatment for cocaine addiction.

His doctors have said he has been recovering well from his drug problem.

Maradona, whose brilliant playing career has been marked by a series of scandals, was involved in an incident shortly after arriving in Cuba when he broke the window of a foreign journalist's car with his fist.

He later made amends by playing in two friendly matches against a team of foreign reporters based in Cuba.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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