MOSCOW - The son of Azerbaijan's hospitalized president said in an interview broadcast Sunday that his father broke seven ribs when he collapsed during a speech in April - not one rib, as officials said at the time.

"When he fell, he broke seven ribs, of course that is very tough at that age," Ilham Aliev told Russia's Channel One television. "For a young person to break one rib is (bad enough). So that really very much affected his physical condition. But now he's better, of course."

Aliev, 80, clutched his chest and fell backward during a speech on April 21. Several days later, the presidential press service said Aliev had experienced a sudden drop in blood pressure, and that he had bruised his back and cracked his sixth left rib.

Aliev, who has a history of heart problems, spent nine days in a military hospital in Turkey in May and returned to the same hospital July 8 for what officials said was a planned follow-up visit.

He has not been released from the Gulhane military hospital and has not been shown on TV since he traveled there, raising speculation about his condition and prompting opposition leaders to question his fitness to rule and call for a clear statement about his health.

Azerbaijan's ambassador to Turkey insisted Friday that Aliev's condition was "normal" and that he would return to Azerbaijan soon. The statement came a day after a doctor at Gulhane said Aliev's doctors there felt was too frail to fly and had advised him against flying home.

Channel One did not say when the interview with Ilham Aliev was conducted but said it was at some point during Aliev's current stay in the hospital.

The concerns about Aliev's health come amid tension over the former Soviet republic's Oct. 15 presidential election.

Aliev has said he will run for re-election, but Ilham has also been registered as candidate by the Central Election Commission.

Some critics of Aliev believe he plans to transfer power to Ilham, 41, who is his deputy in the leadership of the ruling party.

In the Channel One interview, Ilham Aliev reiterated statements he has made saying that he is running in the presidential race to support his father.