Pope Francis has suffered what millions of ordinary people have to deal with — a flat tyre.
But unlike ordinary people, when his vehicle came to a halt, a massive security operation swung into action.
The Pope was being driven into Lima from the airport on Friday when one of the wheels of the Fiat 500 that was taking him into the city began losing air on the highway.
After his motorcade came to a halt, he calmly exited the car while his security detail surveyed the damage.
The Pope got into a black, unmarked security car behind him, before being switched to a third vehicle, that took him on to the presidential palace.
Pope Francis has shunned the bulletproof limousines used by his predecessors, opting for simple cars both in Rome and on his overseas travels.
The Pope is on a three-day tour of Peru, which is followed by a trip to neighbouring Chile.
He visited a steamy riverside town near Peru's border with Brazil and Bolivia — Puerto Maldonado — and denounced environmental destruction in a place where miners have dumped so much mercury into rivers that some fish are no longer considered safe to eat.
AP/Reuters
