Polish Mayor Pawel Adamowicz dies after stabbing attack

WARSAW: A day after being stabbed at a charity event, mayor of the Polish city of Gdansk, Pawel Adamowicz succumbed to his injuries.

Adamowicz (53) was attacked on stage in front of hundreds of people on Sunday.

He was taken to hospital for stab injuries and underwent five hours of surgery at a local hospital.

A 27-year-old with a criminal record was arrested over the attack.

Police believe he used a media pass to gain access to the stage.

Poland's health minister on Monday confirmed Mr Adamowicz had died.

Three-Day mourning is declared in Warsaw after the death of Adamowicz, Warsaw city administration said in a statement.

"According to the Warsaw mayor's decision, three-day mourning for January 15, 16, and 17 is declared in the capital," the statement read.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said during a briefing after consultations with the country's political forces that he hoped to organize a march against violence in Gdansk, but after Adamowicz died, he decided that a one day country-wide mourning will be declared on the day of Adamowicz's funeral, the date of which is not yet determined.

"Today, when we still had hope that a miracle would happen and that the mayor will survive, I asked for a meeting of representatives of the political forces. I hoped that we would go together in a march against violence in Gdansk .

We decided that we would not organize marches, but if possible, we will come to the funeral and there we will give honor to the mayor Adamowicz.

We decided that it [day of mourning] will be the day the family will choose as the day of the funeral," Duda said.

According to a representative of the Polish prosecutor's office, the suspect did not admit his guilt.

"The interrogation of the suspect is complete. He did not admit his guilt in committing a crime," the representative said.

The suspect was released from prison in December after serving a 5.5-year sentence for robbing banks.

A representative of the Polish penitentiary service told Russian news agency that the suspect had mental health problems, which were discovered while he was in prison, but nevertheless served out the rest of his sentence.

The attacker's motives have not been officially revealed yet.