Polish mayor dies after knife attack on stage at concert

THE mayor of Gdansk in Poland died yesterday after a convicted criminal stabbed him while on stage at a charity event.

Mayor Pawel Adamowicz (53) grabbed his stomach and collapsed after being stabbed multiple times in front of the audience on Sunday night.

The attack happened during the ‘Lights to Heaven’ fundraiser organised by the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, Poland’s most important charity.

The assailant made no attempt to flee and instead grabbed a microphone to address the audience while waving his knife in the air.

Adamowicz was taken to a hospital where he underwent five hours of surgery.

Medical officials appealed for blood donations. However, yesterday hospital officials confirmed that the mayor had succumbed to his injuries.

Polish broadcaster TVN said the attacker shouted from the stage that he had been wrongly imprisoned under a previous national government led by Civic Platform, the liberal party to which the mayor formerly belonged.

The 27-year-old man, who police said had convictions for bank robberies and had gained access to the area with a media badge, is now expected to be charged with murder.

TVN showed Adamowicz on stage with a sparkler in hand telling the audience it had been a “wonderful day” and then the attacker coming toward him.

After the stabbing, the perpetrator yelled that his name was Stefan and that “I was jailed but innocent... Civic Platform tortured me. That’s why Adamowicz just died.”

The murder stunned Poland, especially as it came during a charity event that raises huge sums of money to buy equipment for children’s hospitals. (© Daily Telegraph, London)