Polish mayor who was stabbed in heart, dies

Gdansk [Poland], Jan 15 (ANI): Pawel Adamowicz, the mayor of the Polish city of Gdansk, who was stabbed by a man during a charity event, passed away here on Monday.
The 53-year-old mayor was stabbed in the heart and stomach at the stage of a children's hospital charity event on Sunday when he was thanking everyone who had helped to raise funds for medical equipment, CNN reported.
Subsequently, he was rushed to a hospital, and a five-hour-long surgery took place. Despite being in a critical condition, doctors tried their best to recuperate him but succumbed to his injuries.
Police arrested a 27-year-old suspect, who had convictions for bank robbery and had served jail sentences earlier.
The city's press officer Dariusz Wolodzko said that the attacker jumped onto the stage shouting and lashed out at Adamowicz and others for his imprisonment, before brazenly attacking the mayor with the knife, much to the shock to thousands of others who were present at the event.
Adamowicz entered local politics in 1990 as a local councillor, before serving the current post for over 20 years.
The Polish mayor was a known critic of the country's right-wing government and was a staunch supporter of LGBT rights, immigrants and minority groups.
Poland's Interior Minister, Joachim Brudzinski, termed the attack as an "act of inexplicable barbarity."
Hundreds of people in Gdansk are expected to march in solidarity of Adamowicz and protest against the attack later in the day. (ANI)