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Fri, Nov 14, 2025 | Jumada al-Awwal 23, 1447 | Fajr 05:15 | DXB 
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Watch: Helicopter flying Indian President to Kerala sinks into landing pad
President Droupadi Murmu was on her way to Sabarimala when the incident occurred at a newly concreted helipad at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium
Indian President Draupadi Murmu's Sabarimala visit met with a minor scare. The wheels of a helicopter flying her to Kerala got stuck in a depression in the newly concreted helipad at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Pramadam when it landed on Wednesday morning, PTI reported.
Visuals on TV channels showed several policemen and fire force personnel pushing the helicopter's wheels out of the small depressions created when it landed on the concrete.
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A senior police officer of the district said that the stadium was fixed as the location for landing the helicopter at the last moment and therefore, the helipad was created there late on Tuesday.
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#WATCH | Kerala: A portion of the helipad tarmac sank in after a chopper carrying President Droupdi Murmu landed at Pramadam Stadium. Police and fire department personnel deployed at the spot physically pushed the helicopter out of the sunken spot. pic.twitter.com/QDmf28PqIb
— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2025
President Murmu left for Pamba by road. Her special convoy reached at around 11am IST, after which she offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.
She washed her feet in the Pampa river and then offered prayers at the nearby temples, including the Lord Ganapathy shrine.
Thereafter, the melshanthi of the Ganapathy temple, Vishnu Namboothiri, filled the sacred bundle, or 'irumudikkettu' of Murmu, who was dressed in a black saree, at the 'Kettunira Mandapam'.
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