Pakistan's Imran Khan injured from rally fall: party

LAHORE, Pakistan - Agence France-Presse

Imran Khan, Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician and chairman of political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), addresses his supporters after his visit to mausoleum of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder and first governor-general of Pakistan, during an election campaign in Karachi May 7, 2013. Pakistan's general election will be held on May 11. REUTERS/Athar Hussain

Pakistan cricket star turned politician Imran Khan sustained head injuries and was rushed to hospital Tuesday after falling off a lift taking him onto the stage for an election rally, his party said.

Khan was carried by aides gripping onto his arms and legs as police cleared a way through the crowd at the event in Pakistan's second largest city of Lahore, footage broadcast by private Dunya television showed.

"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 (PTI) told AFP in tears.
 
Another party spokesman said Khan's injuries were minor.
 
"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 told AFP by telephone.
 
Campaigning has reached the final stretches ahead of Pakistan's general election on Saturday when the country's electorate of 86 million will go to the polls to elect a new national assembly and four regional assemblies.
 
Khan, who won only one seat in 2002 and boycotted polls in 2008, has led an electric campaign, galvanising the middle class and young people in what he has called a "tsunami" of support that will propel him into office.

Main opposition leader Nawaz Sharif is widely tipped to win the election and secure an historic third term for his Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N).