Doctors said Wednesday they expect Pakistani politician Imran Khan to make a full recovery despite fracturing his spine at a campaign rally, as his party sought to capitalise on a sympathy vote. The retired cricket star and head of the Pakistan Movement for Justice (PTI) suffered several fractured vertebrae and a broken rib on Tuesday when he fell from a lift raising him onto the stage at a rally in the city of Lahore.
Medical staff have ordered the 60-year-old to remain immobile in bed, throwing into doubt the prospect that he will address in person a final rally set to wrap up his high-octane campaign for office in Saturday’s election.
The man tipped to win the polls, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, suspended campaigning on Wednesday in tribute to Khan.
His fall was the latest dramatic twist to an election campaign that has been overshadowed by a series of attacks on politicians and political parties which have killed 113 people since mid-April, according to an AFP tally.
The Pakistani Taliban have condemned the polls as un-Islamic and directly threatened the outgoing secular Pakistan People’s Party and its main coalition partners, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Awami National Party.
On Wednesday a bomb targeted a candidate from the Awami National Party (ANP), killing two people and wounding three others in the northwestern tribal district of Bajaur, a local official said.
In another attack, unconnected to the elections, a suicide bomber killed three people and wounded 23 outside a police station in the northwestern district of Bannu, police said.
Aides said Khan would still address a final election rally on Thursday, even if it has to be from hospital.
Television footage showed him flat on his back in hospital wearing a neck brace, and looking pale and groggy after his fall in the city of Lahore.
Doctors have advised at least two days’ rest but say he is in full control of his limbs and bodily functions and expected to make a full recovery.
-With AFP/The Independent input
