Polish police say one killed in axe attack at Warsaw University

WARSAW (Reuters) -Police said on Wednesday they had detained a 22-year-old Polish man after he killed one person with an axe at Warsaw University, in an attack the institution described as a "huge tragedy".

"Police have detained a man who entered the University of Warsaw campus. One person died, another was taken to hospital with injuries," Warsaw Police said in a statement on X.

They said the incident occurred at around 6:40 p.m. (1640 GMT), when the man attacked people on the campus with an axe, adding that the detainee was a 22-year-old Polish citizen.

Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported that the attacker was a third-year law student.

Private broadcaster Polsat News reported that a woman's severed head and an axe had been found at the university.

A spokesperson for the district prosecutor's office declined to comment on whether a severed head had been found.

The spokesperson said that a female administrative employee of the university had been killed at the scene and a security guard was injured and was taken to hospital in critical condition.

He said that the attacker had entered an auditorium at the university.

Reuters reporters at the scene saw police vans and a cordon around the auditorium where the attack took place.

The Rector of the University of Warsaw said in a statement that May 8 would be a day of mourning at the institution, calling the attack a "huge tragedy".

"We express our great sorrow and sympathy to the family and loved ones," the statement read.

(Reporting by Barbara Erling, Karol Badohal, Alan Charlish, Kacper Pempel, Kuba StezyckiEditing by Gareth Jones, Nick Zieminski and Chizu Nomiyama)