Warsaw, Dec 05: Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller and seven other people were injured, his doctor said, when his helicopter made an emergency landing in a Warsaw suburb. Miller suffered injuries to two vertebrae and will remain in hospital, Grazyna Rydzewska told yesterday.

She did not confirm information earlier from Polish television that Miller had a broken arm and leg.

"He has damaged two vertebrae and must remain in hospital," she said from the government hospital in Warsaw where miller was rushed after the incident.

Miller was scheduled to visit Ireland today ahead of Dublin`s presidency of the European Union which begins on January 01.

The doctor said that Miller, along with the seven other people, could be kept in hospital for at least a week. One person will be operated on, she said.

The emergency landing of the Soviet-built MI-8 happened as Miller returned from a trip to the Silesia region in Southwest Poland.

Miller`s spokesman Marcin Kaszuba said the helicopter had an engine problem, but that it had recently passed a technical check-up and been declared airworthy.

The Pap news agency said the helicopter was produced in 1977. Diplomats said the aircraft had an engine failure in flight. Bureau Report