Imran Khan, Pakistani candidate, falls off stage, suffers head injury (VIDEO)
Cricket legend and chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) or Movement for Justice party Imran Khan (C) speaks to supporters during a campaign rally in Karachi on May 7, 2013. Pakistan will elect its new government for the next five years in polls on May 11.
Imran Khan, the former cricketer and popular election candidate, fell off a lift during a rally in Pakistan on Tuesday, sustaining head injuries.
Khan fell while being lifted to the stage and was carried by aides holding on to his arms and legs, according to Agence France Presse.
The fall was caught live on camera from the election rally being held in Lahore.
"Imran Khan fell from a lifter. He has received injuries to his head and he has been taken to hospital," Malik Ishtiaq, a local spokesman for Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, told AFP.
"Imran Khan is alright. He has been taken to the hospital for first aid. He will be back to address the rally very soon after getting initial treatment," Chaudhry Rizwan, another party spokesman, told AFP.
Pakistani site DawnNews reported that he was seen bleeding when he was rushed to the hospital.
Political rival Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif and his daughter issued sympathetic statements to Khan.
Al Jazeera said Khan was "in stable condition."
Khan's former wife, Jemima, tweeted:
The BBC noted it remained unclear how serious Khan's injuries were. Khan is one of the leading politicians campaigning in the upcoming general elections. If successful, the elections would be the first time Pakistan has transferred power from one civilian government to the next.
The runup to the May 11 elections in Pakistan has been marred by bombings and shootings, especially in the country's northwest. Since the beginning of April, over 100 people have died in attacks on candidates and party workers around Pakistan, according to the Associated Press.
The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for some, but not all, the attacks.
At least 17 people were killed in a pair of bombings on Tuesday.
Al Jazeera noted that Khan held a rally in the city of Karachi, where other parties under threat such as the Pakistan People's Party, the Muttahida Quami Movement and the Awami National Party, have not.
Here is video of Khan's fall: