MILAN (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was rushed to hospital covered in blood with a broken nose and teeth after a man with mental problems hurled a statuette at him at a rally, officials said on Sunday.
Berlusconi was bundled into a car, with blood spattered over his face, and whisked away after the assault in a square behind the cathedral in the northern city of Milan. The media mogul had just ended a speech to thousands of flag-waving supporters.
The 73-year-old prime minister, a popular but divisive figure, said "I'm fine, I'm fine" as he arrived at the hospital.
He later told an Italian television presenter visiting him that he considered it "miraculous" not to have lost an eye in the attack, the Ansa news agency said.
His personal doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, said the premier had suffered a fractured nose, two broken teeth and cuts to his lips that required stitches.
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