Amsterdam police have appealed for witnesses to a serious stabbing incident in the city’s Vondel park, which they say was a deliberate attack on a gay man.

The 55-year-old was stabbed at least 10 times in his face, hands, arm and back at around 02.00 hours on Sunday morning, police said.

He was stabbed in the rose garden, part of the Vondel park which is known as a meeting place for gay men. The victim told police he was attacked by a man who had asked him ‘are you one of them?’.

The victim described his attacker as a thin man, either bald or with a shaved head and between 1.80 and 1.85 metres tall.

Witness

An anonymous witness told the Parool he heard someone shouting ‘help, I’ve been stabbed’. When he went to investigate, he found a man who was bleeding heavily from several wounds to his face and back.

The witness said the attacker was probably a thin, unkempt man he had seen walking in the park earlier. ‘He wore a hoodie but I could see he was bald, he had oversized trousers and a slouched walk.’

‘We have spoken to a number of people who were in or around the park,’ police spokeswoman Ellie Lust said. ‘We know a number of people fled because of the incident but we would very much like to talk to them.’