Spanish opposition leader Mariano Rajoy escaped with minor injuries from a dramatic helicopter crash on Thursday. Rajoy, 50, head of the conservative Popular Party, was taken to a local hospital with a broken finger after the crash at the town of Mostoles, near Madrid, a hospital official said.
The head of the Madrid regional government, Esperanza Aguirre, was also on board but emerged unscathed. "We could have been killed but I am in perfect shape," Aguirre, a senior Popular Party member, told state radio.
A Spanish government spokesman told reporters in Rome Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had called to speak to Rajoy when he heard of the crash, but Rajoy was being treated. Doctors reassured Zapatero the opposition leader was fine.
Mostoles Mayor Esteban Parro, a television cameraman and a policeman who were on board were also taken to hospital, but had no serious injuries, the hospital official said.
Rajoy's delegation had visited a police station in Mostoles before getting on the helicopter to tour the area. CNN+ television showed dramatic footage of the helicopter taking off from Mostoles bull ring, then spinning around as it gained height to get over the bull ring's outer wall.
The helicopter then plunged five metres (yards) to the ground, crashing outside the bullring. The next pictures showed Rajoy, who appeared shaken but was smiling, being helped out of the wreckage.
Police said they were investigating the cause of the crash. The helicopter was operated by the Madrid regional government.
Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar picked Rajoy as his political heir in 2003. But Zapatero became prime minister after his Socialists beat the Popular Party in an election three days after the March 11, 2004 Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people.
Rajoy has attacked Zapatero's policies as endangering the unity of Spain. The Popular Party has made gains in recent polls, cutting the Socialists' lead to two percentage points in an October survey by the Centre for Sociological Investigations, compared with 5.5 points in July.
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