Author Sir Salman Rushdie, who has faced death threats for his novel The Satanic Verses, has been stabbed in the neck while on stage at an event in New York state.
The Indian-born British author has been taken to hospital by helicopter but his condition is not yet known. His agent said he is undergoing surgery.
The 75-year-old was about to give a lecture when a man stormed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and began attacking Sir Salman as he was being introduced, according to witnesses.
The novelist, who became an American citizen in 2016, fell to the floor when the suspect attacked him. He was restrained and is now in custody.
Police said the interviewer at the event suffered a minor head injury after also being attacked.
Witness Julia Mineeva Braun said as Sir Salman was being introduced “all of a sudden from the left-hand side of the stage a short man, (dressed) all in black, ran out and he approached Mr Rushdie”.
“It was very quick… we thought he was fixing his microphone and then we saw the knife. He starting stabbing him in the neck first… and Mr Rushdie got up and started running. After that, people in the audience got up on stage and pinned the attacker down. It’s hard to believe. We’re still in shock.”
New York governor Kathy Hochul said a state police officer saved the author’s life and that of the moderator, who she said was also hurt.
Ms Hochul added: “He is alive, he has been airlifted to safety. But here is an individual who has spent decades speaking truth to power, someone who’s been out there unafraid, despite the threats that have followed him his entire adult life.”
His fourth book, The Satanic Verses, has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it to be blasphemous.
In 1989, Iran’s then leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Sir Salman’s death.
The Middle East country also offered a bounty of more than $3m for anyone who kills the writer.
