The reporter had been on top of the container and was trying to get an interview with Imran Khan when she lost her footing and fell off the container and was crushed under the wheels of the lead vehicle.
Subsequently, PTI leader Asad Umar stated that the march had been paused for the day due to the unfortunate accident and that the march will resume tomorrow.
Later, Imran also posted condolences for her family on social media site Twitter.
He said that he was “shocked and deeply saddened by the terrible accident that led to the death of Channel 5 reporter.”
“I have no words to express my sorrow. My prayers and condolences go to the family at this tragic time. We have cancelled our March for today,” he said.
‘System of animals reigns supreme in Pakistan’
As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally moved towards Gujranwala, former prime minister Imran Khan near Sadhuki told the traveling crowd that his aim was to restore rule of law in Pakistan that currently there was a system of animals in vogue in the country.
He added that he wanted a system of justice of humans to prevail.
Earlier in the day as the march resumed in Muridke, Imran responded to the explosive revelations made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that secret interlocutors had been sent for negotiations.
The PTI chief, however, rejected the claim, stating that the prime minister had nothing to offer.
Addressing the gathered crowd as part of his long march in Muridke at around midday, Imran first apologized to his party supporters for returning to Lahore after reports emerged that rifts had emerged between two groups of PTI supporters in the district.
Imran said that he did not know his supporters were waiting for him all night in the cold on the roads while he was napping soundly at home.
He cheekily added that the large crowd gathered would not have been visible at night so it is better that they were doing it in the day.
He then addressed the revalations made by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that messages had been sent by Imran over the appointment of the new army chief and the elections.
Imran, however, refuted the proclamations of Shehbaz. But he did admit having backchannel talks with someother powers.
“I am speaking to those and have spoken with those with whom you would go to meet while hiding in the trunk of the car,” Imran claimed.
“What is the use of speaking with you? What [power] do you have that I would negotiate with you,” Imran said while taunting Shehbaz Sharif.
Your entire life is polishing big, big boots (powerful quarters).
“Why would I send you messages. I spoke with those who pull your strings,” he said.
Claiming that he built his party from the ground up and that unlike the incumbent rulers and others in the past, was not created in the nursery of any military dictator.
“I did not call Ayub Khan ‘daddy’ like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,” he said, adding that he did not become a chief minister by begging dictator General Ziaul Haq.
“I came here on the back of the public,” he said, adding that he will accept the decision of the public (in general elections).
“The public does not accept this ‘imported government’,” he said.
Imran further said that apart from general elections, the only thing he wants is the rule of law.
In a message to the establishment, he said that when General Pervez Musharraf removed the two parties (the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party) who had previously been removed from power due to corruption, the people distributed sweets in the streets, he said, asking rhetorically why would people distribute sweets, stating that because the public was tired of their theft of public money.
However, he lamented how Musharraf then gave these two parties a national Reconciliation Order (NRO) to allow them back into the political mainstream.
He added that the public voted for him due to their combined hatred of these two parties.
Addressing the country’s establishment, he made some startling public statements said that they were the ones who lodged cases against the PML-N and PPP leaders and it was their Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which had ‘proved’ that Nawaz Sharif was corrupt.
It was in your tenure the public found out how corrupt former president Asif Ali Zardari was.
“But if now you have decided to side with these thieves, do not make the mistake thinking that we are sheeple,” he stated.
He added that we are people and we have the sense to differentiate between the good and the bad.
“If you will stand with these people, the public will no longer support you,” he proclaimed and pointed to the crowd to say, “you can already see on which side the public stands.”
He said that the entire public is standing here (this side) but you have gone and sided with the thieves.
“You held a press conference in their favor,” he claimed, adding that it is better he dies but not become a slave.
I want the military to become a strong institution which is necessary for the safety and security of the state.
He claimed that he stands with the military but his criticisms are only constructive for its development.
Later, he requested the Supreme Court of Pakistan to establish rule of law and to bring those, who think they are above the law, to be brought under rule of law.
“No institution is above the law,” he said, adding that what happened with Shahbaz Gill and Azam Swati should never be repeated.
They were not criminals or murderers, they are ordinary people who just expressed their views.