Author Salman Rushdie has been flown by helicopter to hospital after being stabbed in the neck while on stage at an literary event in New York on Friday.

Indian-born British writer Rushdie, whose novel the Satanic Verses led to death threats and a fatwa from the Iranian regime, was stabbed by an attacker multiple times while on stage to speak at the Chautauqua Institution near the city of Buffalo in western New York.

State governor Kathy Hochul told a press conference that a state police officer saved his life and that of the moderator, who she said was also attacked.

She added: "He is alive, he has been airlifted to safety."

An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage at the Chautauqua Institution earlier on Friday and begin stabbing Rushdie "10 to 15 times" as he was being introduced.

The assailant was reportedly wearing a black mask, according to eyewitnesses.

Footage from the event shows some audience members immediately rush to the stage to help Rushdie, 75, after he fell to the floor, while others can be heard screaming and shouting "oh my God".

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