Yesterday, April 13 (10:45)
Update: Yesterday, April 13 (12:38)
6 people are dead and 8 were taken to hospitals – this is the result of a knife attack in one of the shopping centers in Sydney, Australia. The attacker, who was shot by the police, also died.
Services at the scene of a knife attack in Sydney /STEVEN SAPHORE /PAP/EPA
The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon local time, i.e. in the morning Polish time.
According to Australian media, a man in his 30s began stabbing random customers, including a woman with a nine-month-old child, causing panic in a crowded shopping center.
People fled from the running attacker, some locked themselves in shops located in the center. This guy was crazy, completely high, he was stumbling – said one of the witnesses, quoted by news.com.au.
Photos and recordings shared on social media show people running away from the shopping center and emergency vehicles heading towards it.
Australian police, quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald, reported that 6 people lost their lives and 8 were taken to hospitals.
Five deaths were previously reported. One person later died in hospital, a police spokesman said.
The attacker, who was shot by a policewoman, also died. Both his identity and motives are currently unknown.
Law enforcement authorities are checking the attacker’s possible links with radical Islamists.
The police assured that the man acted alone and there is no longer a threat.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese commented on the matter. The devastating scenes at Bondi Junction are indescribable and incomprehensible, he told a news conference.
Security forces near the site of the knife attack in Sydney /BIANCA DE MARCHI /PAP/EPA
It was a horrific act of violence aimed at innocent people going out for regular Saturday shopping, he added.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns also expressed his “horror at the attack.”
Source: RMF24/PAP