Prez escapes unhurt as chopper hits building

President Pratibha Patil, her husband Devisingh Shekhawat and Orissa Governor MC Bhandari on Wednesday had a close shave when three blades of the heliopter ferrying them back from Puri hit the asbestos shed of a shed at Bhubaneswar airport Wednesday evening.

President Pratibha Patil, her husband Devisingh Shekhawat and Orissa Governor MC Bhandari on Wednesday had a close shave when three blades of the heliopter ferrying them back from Puri hit the asbestos shed of a shed at Bhubaneswar airport on Wednesday evening.

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All three VVIPs are safe, a senior official said.

Three blades of the 16-seater helicopter struck the shed, uprooting its asbestos roof, he said adding the three blades bent under the impact.

The President was returning to Bhubaneswar after inaugurating an Urban Haat at Puri.