Senate leader in highway pile-up

US Senate majority leader Harry Reid was taken to hospital after what appeared to be a rear-end crash on a highway through Las Vegas tonight.

Nevada Highway Patrol Office spokesman Jeremie Elliott said he did not know Mr Reid’s condition after the crash. The freeway runs parallel to the Las Vegas Strip.

Mr Elliott said six vehicles were involved in the apparent chain-reaction crash, including two Las Vegas police vehicles, two civilian vehicles and two Capitol Police vehicles.

Two lanes were closed and four tow trucks summoned. It was not clear whether anyone else was injured.

Officials in Mr Reid’s office said it was not immediately clear where the Democratic senator was heading.

Mr Reid, 72, spoke earlier in the day at a Las Vegas ceremony celebrating the National Atomic Testing Museum, which was officially named a “national” museum.

He was also due to speak to the editorial board of Spanish-language newspaper El Tiempo, according to editor Hernando Amaya.

Mr Reid’s wife Landra was speaking at an event featuring US first lady Michelle Obama at roughly the time the crash happened, but she made no mention of the incident.

A hospital spokeswoman said Mr Reid was in a good condition.