Stabbings leave three in hospital

Police have urged a knifeman to give himself up after a man was stabbed several times outside a Rotorua bar early today.

The victim was taken to Rotorua Hospital with several stab wounds after the attack at 1.30am but police said he was in a stable condition and none of the wounds was thought to be life-threatening.

Police said they knew the identity of the attacker and it was a matter of time before he was caught.

Detective Sergeant John Wilson from the Rotorua CIB, said up to three people might have been involved in the stabbing.

The victim was a 25-year-old Rotorua man who was in Rotorua Hospital with serious injuries.

"The injured man is now in a stable condition and has various injuries, the most serious of which are multiple stab wounds, including a punctured lung," Mr Wilson said.

Meanwhile, two young women are in stable conditions in Christchurch Hospital after both being stabbed last night.

Christchurch police said the stabbings happened about 8.30pm in the Stanmore Road area and were the result of a domestic dispute.

The women, aged 20 and 22, suffered multiple stab wounds.

Police said the offenders and the victims were known to each other, but would not release more details of the incident.

Police are also still searching for Vance Paraki Tuheke, 31, who allegedly stabbed a man in the face in Albany yesterday. The attack left the victim with a 15cm blade embedded in his face.

The 36-year-old victim was rushed to hospital with the ends of the 150mm blade poking out both sides of his face, just beneath his eyes.

- NZPA

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