Poland attack: Gdansk mayor knifed during major charity event after assailant storms stage
THE MAYOR of Polish city Gdansk has been stabbed on stage while attending a major charity event.
Poland: Gdansk Mayor STABBED on stage at charity event
Pawel Adamowicz was rushed to hospital after being knifed during the fundraiser organised by one of Poland’s biggest charities. The shocking attack took place in front of hundreds of onlookers at the open-air event. Local media quoted hospital staff as saying Mr Adamowicz's condition was very serious and he was undergoing emergency surgery.
Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski called the stabbing “an act of inexplicable barbarity”.
Police said they have detained a suspect.
Polish media reports the attacker shouted from the stage that he had been wrongly imprisoned under the government of Civic Platform, a party to which the mayor formerly belonged.
Broadcaster TVN said the mayor could be seen holding his belly after the attack.
Mr Adamowicz has been mayor of Gdansk, a Baltic port city, since 1998.
He is seen as a progressive voice and has supported LGBT rights and tolerance for minorities.
He showed solidarity with the Jewish community when the city's synagogue had its windows broken last year, strongly denouncing the vandalism.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has informed the public that doctors succeeded in resuscitating the mayor but that his condition is “very difficult”.
Doctors later confirmed he had survived a five-hour operation and was in a “very, very critical condition”.
Police said the suspect was a 27-year-old with a criminal record and had previously carried out bank robberies.
A police spokesman, Mariusz Ciarka, confirmed that the attacker gained access to the area with a media badge.
European Council President Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister who co-founded Civil Platform and is from Gdansk, wrote on Twitter: “Let's all pray for Mayor Adamowicz. Pawel, we are with you.”