Gdańsk mayor Paweł Adamowicz has been stabbed with a knife at a charity event, mayor's press secretary said. The mayor was stabbed near his heart and is currently undergoing a surgery after being rushed to a hospital in critical condition.
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The attacker is currently in custody, there is no official information on motives behind the attack. According to witnesses' reports, the suspect was claiming that he had been sentenced to prison innocent.
Later, Polish president Andrzej Duda took to Twitter, saying that he "received information that the doctors managed to restore the heartbeat of President Paweł Adamowicz", noting however, that the mayor's condition was still serious.
Otrzymałem informację, że Lekarzom udało się przywrócić akcję serca ciężko rannego Pana Prezydenta Pawła Adamowicza i jest nadzieja ale stan nadal jest bardzo trudny. Kto może, proszę o wsparcie dla Niego dobrą myślą, kto może modlitwą. Tyle możemy.
— Andrzej Duda (@AndrzejDuda) January 13, 2019
One of the hospital doctors told reporters later that surgeons fought for the life of Adamowicz for five hours, using as many as 41 bags of blood, or almost 20 liters (5 gallons), during the operation.
"The operation lasted 5 hours. During the operation, the patient received 41 bags of blood," said the doctor.
One bag typically contains 450 millilitres of blood.