The stage where Indonesian presidential candidate Joko Widodo was giving a campaign speech collapsed, but he emerged unscathed, local media reported today.

Joko, or better known as Jokowi, was speaking in front of supporters in the West Java district of Indramayu when the front part of the stage collapsed late yesterday, Republika Online said.

He got up, climbed the back on the stage that was still intact and continued his speech, the report said.

None of other people on the stage, including supporters and photojournalists, were injured, it said.

“Thank God everybody was safe,” Rieke Diah Pitaloka, a member of Joko’s campaign, was quoted as saying.

Joko, the current governor of Jakarta, is facing former general Prabowo Subianto in a two-way race to replace President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

A recent poll by Poltracking Institute suggests that Joko remains the favourite with 48.5 percent of those surveyed chosing him, compared to 41 percent who picked Prabowo.

About 10 percent of those polled were still undecided.

- dpa