Chief Minister of India's Jharkhand state injured in copter accident

Ranchi (Jharkhand, India), May 9 (PTI) Chief Minister Arjun Munda of the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, his wife and four others had a miraculous escape but sustained injuries when a helicopter carrying them crash-landed today at the airport here in the state capital after it developed a technical glitch. 44-year old Munda suffered multiple injuries including on his shoulder and ankle and is in the ICU of Apollo Hospital but his condition is stable and out of danger, doctors said. All the six persons are conscious and are able to talk coherently, they added. "The helicopter crash-landed from a height of 20 to 25 feet at the Birsa Munda Airport here. The doctors are examining the chief minister," Director General of Jharkhand Police G S Rath told PTI. The mishap occurred at 12.30 pm. Aviation regulator DGCA has launched a probe into the accident in which the chopper turned turtle and lay on a side. Weather was fine at the time of the mishap which revived memories of chopper crashes that had claimed the lives of Chief Ministers Y S Rajasekhara Reddy of Andhra Pradesh and Dorji Khandu of Arunachal Pradesh states and Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi in the last one decade. A senior airport official said besides the chief minister and his wife Meera, two pilots, a security officer and BJP state legislator Barkuanr Gagrai were on board the twin-engined Agusta AW 109 helicopter which suffered damage. The chief minister was headed for Kuchai in Sareikela-Kharsawan district of the state to inaugurate a power sub-station but could not land there because of a technical problem and was returning to the airport here when it crash-landed, Sub-Divisional Officer Chandra Bhusan Singh said. PTI