Foreign Affairs

Polish Mayor Dies Day After Being Stabbed At Children’s Charity Event

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The mayor of a city in Poland died Monday hours after suffering stab wounds to his heart and stomach, CNN reported.

Gdansk Mayor Pawel Adamowicz was rushed to a hospital after a man rushed onstage at a charity event with a knife, allegedly stabbing the mayor. The suspect served time in prison for bank robbery. He blamed the mayor’s politics for his conviction.

WATCH:

Pawel Adamowicz, mayor of the Polish city of Gdansk, has died after being stabbed at a charity event

[Tap to expand] https://t.co/1ztmeyK7jY pic.twitter.com/uMnXhdWdc8

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) January 14, 2019

The attack came in the final moments of the Sunday event while the mayor was thanking everyone who volunteered and donated to raise funds to purchase medical equipment for a children’s hospital. The suspect rushed onstage as the crowd cheered and fireworks erupted from tubes onstage.

The attack happened in front of a crowd of hundreds of people and children. The mayor was rushed to a nearby hospital where he underwent five hours of surgery as doctors attempted to save his life. Gdansk residents lined up outside the hospital to donate blood. Despite the coordinated effort to save him, Adamowicz died early Monday, Sky News reported.

Poland Interior Minister Joachim Brudzinski called the attack “an act of inexplicable barbarism.” Polish President Andrzej Duda will attend Adamowicz’s funeral in Warsaw Monday night.

Paweł Adamowicz 1965-2019 pic.twitter.com/bGhHj8LwFf

— Paweł Adamowicz (@AdamowiczPawel) January 14, 2019

Some in Poland are using the mayor’s death to make a statement about toxic rhetoric in Polish politics. Marches and protests took place Monday night over Adamowicz’s death. Adamowicz was a progressive public official often at odds with the country’s right-wing national government, according to CNN.

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