Mamata Banerjee injured as chopper makes emergency landing due to bad weather: official

Siliguri/ Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was injured when the helicopter in which she was flying made an emergency landing at the Sevoke air base near Siliguri in the northern part of the state due to bad weather on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

Banerjee was reportedly injured on her waist and legs when the chopper was shaking terribly after running into heavy rain while flying over the Baikunthapur forest.

She was going to Bagdogra Airport from Jalpaiguri to take a flight to Kolkata. After her return to the metropolis, doctors at the state-run SSKM Hospital attended to her.

"It was raining very heavily and the pilot decided to make an emergency landing after the helicopter started shaking terribly when it ran into bad weather on the way to Bagdogra airport," an official told PTI.

"During the air turbulence, the chief minister was injured on her waist and legs,” he said.

Banerjee, also the Trinamool Congress supremo, then travelled by road to reach Bagdogra Airport and took a flight back to the city.

The chief minister was returning to Kolkata after a two-day trip to northern districts of the state to campaign for the panchayat elections, scheduled on July 8.

Sources said that Governor CV Ananda Bose telephoned Banerjee and enquired about her health condition.