Football star stabbed

A man grabbed a knife from a supermarket shelf yesterday and stabbed five people, killing one and wounding four others, including Spanish football player Pablo Mari, Italian authorities said.

Police arrested a 46-year-old Italian man suspected in the attack at a shopping centre in Assago, a suburb of Milan, carabinieri said.

A supermarket employee died en route to the hospital, according to the news agency ANSA, which said three other victims were in serious condition. Another person was treated for shock but not hospitalised, police said.

The motive for the attacks was unknown, but police said the man showed signs of being psychologically unstable. There were no elements to suggest terrorism.

Mari, who is on loan to the Serie A club Monza from Arsenal, was among the wounded. Arsenal said in a statement that Mari was at the hospital but was not seriously hurt.

Monza club chief executive Adrian Galliano wished him a speedy recovery in a message posted on Twitter.

Witnesses told ANSA they saw people fleeing the supermarket in shock, and as the gravity of the situation became clear, shop workers pulled down the store’s shutters.