UMTATA, South Africa (AP) -- President Nelson Mandela narrowly escaped injury Tuesday when a tornado knocked down part of the pharmacy he was shopping in. Throughout the town, 13 people were killed.
The tornado also injured 150 people, uprooted trees and swept roofs off houses in Umtata, 12 miles from Mandela's hometown of Qunu in southeastern South Africa. Most of the victims were waiting at a bus stop when a wall collapsed on them, police said.Mandela, 80, was shopping at a pharmacy on Umtata's main street when the storm hit, spokeswoman Priscilla Naidoo said.
He was told to lie on the floor by his bodyguards, who then covered the president with their bodies to protect him while the tornado raged, Naidoo said.
The doors and windows of the pharmacy were shattered by the force of the storm, and part of the roof caved in, but the president suffered no injuries, she said.