One person is killed and several injured in a knife attack in a shopping center in Milan. A professional soccer player is also among the victims. Spain's Pablo Mari is currently on loan at Monza Calcio from Arsenal. The club sends get well wishes.
Pablo Mari, currently on loan at the Italian first division soccer team Monza Calcio, was injured in a knife attack in a Milan shopping center. This was confirmed by Arsenal, where Mari is under contract. Accordingly, the 29-year-old is in a Milan hospital.
At least one person died in the attack. A supermarket employee succumbed to his serious injuries, as the President of the Lombardy Region, Attilio Fontana, wrote on Facebook. The Spaniard Mari is one of the six injured in the knife attack, for which a mentally disturbed 46-year-old Italian is responsible, it said. According to Arsenal, Mari was "not seriously injured".
Monza Calcio addressed his injured player via Twitter in the evening. "Dear Pablo, we are all here close to you and your family, we love you, keep fighting as you can, you are a warrior and you will get well soon," Monza's managing director Adriano Galliani was quoted there as saying.
The attacker was arrested by the Carabinieri. According to an initial reconstruction, the man, who was suffering from depression and was being treated by a doctor, took a knife from the supermarket shelves and stabbed the presumably randomly selected people - including Mari. Several customers of the shopping center are said to have stopped the attacker and handed him over to the police.
Monza Calcio is owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Managing director Galliani is said to have visited the injured Mari in the hospital.
