Attack in Krakow: Surgeons saved police officers during lunch
Two surgeons who were having lunch near the central square saved injured police officers after an attack that left six dead in Krakow.
Surgeons from the table to the scene of the attack in Krakow
Two surgeons who were having lunch with their families in the centre of Krakow saved the life of a police officer after the bloody attack on 7 November, according to Ethnos. The 24-year-old Polish perpetrator, who is said to have been influenced by far-right ideologies, opened fire indiscriminately in the city's central square, killing six people and injuring 15 others.
Professor Michał Pędziwiatr and Dr Mateusz Wierdak heard the gunshots during their meal. "Suddenly, my son ran towards me and said: 'Dad, people are being shot over there,'" Pędziwiatr told news agency Fakt. The two doctors rushed immediately to the scene to provide first aid to both the perpetrator and the two police officers who had been injured in their attempt to immobilise him.
Wierdak focused on the police officer who had been shot in the chest. "He, to put it simply, used all the dressings he had at his disposal to treat the police officer's chest wound and put his hands inside," Pędziwiatr told Fakt. "If he had not acted in that way, I do not know how things would have developed, as the ambulance took a long time to arrive." Pędziwiatr described his colleague as a "hero."
As soon as the shooting stopped, Pędziwiatr took care of the remaining victims and the perpetrator himself. "When it comes to saving human lives, it does not matter who anyone is," he emphasised. Today, the two police officers, whom Poland's prime minister described as "true heroes" because they prevented further casualties, have woken from a coma, according to the BBC.
Investigation into terrorism and the unknown perpetrator
Poland's National Prosecutor's Office has launched an official investigation into terrorism, which has been taken on by a special counter-terrorism unit. Government officials stated that the 24-year-old perpetrator appears to have been influenced by far-right ideologies, whilst Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński pointed out that "everything points" in that direction. The perpetrator remains hospitalised in a critical condition.
Polish authorities have not made his name public. During a search of his residence following the attack, the bodies of his parents and sister were found. During the attack, the perpetrator was wearing full military equipment and carried a military-type weapon, however the Polish government clarified that he was not a member of the armed forces.
Volunteers from Dublin and eyewitnesses
Six volunteers from Dublin Civil Defence were in Krakow on holiday when the attack took place. James McConville, an official of the service, told RTE News that the team was in close proximity to the central square and immediately rushed to assist the injured, providing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and care for controlling bleeding.
Eyewitnesses described scenes of panic during the attack. Ruby Cathryn Warren from London said: "I shouted to my friends to run and we all began to run to save our lives." Not knowing where the perpetrator was or if there was more than one, they took refuge in a nearby hotel.
Tom Brook from West Yorkshire in England was in a McDonald's store near the square when he heard "multiple gunshots and saw people running to find shelter." "I then walked towards the square and saw rescue workers caring for someone outside a store. Approximately 20 metres further on there was a body, covered with a thermal blanket," he described.
Source: Ethnos