Briton knifed as he fights to save women from killer
A BRITISH man was injured as he tried to save women from a knifewielding assailant during a savage terror attack in Finland.
Paramedic Hassan Zubier intervened in the mass stabbing, which left two women dead and six others wounded, but denied being a hero.
The attacker went on the rampage in a busy market square in Turku, a city 90 miles north west of the capital Helsinki on Friday, before being shot in the leg and arrested. Police revealed they are holding an 18-year-old Moroccan asylum-seeker.
They said the assailant had specifically targeted women and suggested the intervention of Mr Zubier and another man may have helped save lives.
But Mr Zubier, 45, born in Dartford, Kent, who now lives in Sweden, told the BBC from his hospital bed: ‘I’m not a hero. I did what I was trained for. I did my best and no more.’
He was reportedly stabbed in the neck and chest as he tried to protect his girlfriend and others, but one victim died in his arms.
He was earlier quoted in Finnish newspapers as saying: ‘I rushed to help her and tried to stop the blood flow. Others gave her heart and lung assistance. I tried to stop the violent bleeding from her throat. Then he stabs me again. The woman is so badly injured and died in my arms.’
Superintendent Christa Granroth, of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, said: ‘We think the attacker especially targeted women and the men were wounded after coming to the defence of the women.’