The accident occurred when Khan and others were being lifted to a 15-foot-high stage via forklift. The platform on the forklift apparently slipped from overloading just as it was reaching the top of the stage, and Khan sustained head injuries along with three fractured vertebrae after tumbling with others head-first to the ground.
Although the injuries were not life threatening, they were serious enough to require an extended hospital stay and forced Khan to cancel all remaining rally appearances prior to the May 11 election. He has not, however, withdrawn as a candidate in the election itself.
The election, which would mark the first time in Pakistan’s history that one group of elected officials completed a full term and ceded power to another without military intervention, has been marred by bombings, abductions and other violence, much of it attributed to Taliban extremists. More than 116 people have reportedly died from the violence in the lead-up to the May 11 elections since mid-April.
