Milan, Oct 29 (IANS): Arsenal defender Pablo Mari is set to miss out on two months of action having undergone surgery after being stabbed in the back in a shocking attack in Italy.

The Spanish centre-back was one of six victims involved in the attack on Thursday. It has been confirmed that one victim has passed away following the attack, with others airlifted to hospital - including Mari.

The attacker, according to the Italian police, was a 46-year-old man with mental health issues and he was detained after the incident in the supermarket and was put in a psychiatric ward under guard.

It has now been confirmed that Mari will be out of action for at least two months following an operation on Friday. Mari commented on the incident and said he was lucky to be alive after seeing a man die in front of him.

"I was lucky, because I saw a person die in front of me," Mari was quoted as saying by Sky News in the aftermath of the attack.

The on-loan Arsenal defender also took to Twitter and said that he and his family were fine despite the unfortunate incident and thanked everyone for their messages. He also extended his heartfelt condolences to the family of the man who lost his life during the attack.

"After the hard moment, we experienced yesterday, both my family and I want to communicate that fortunately we are all fine despite the circumstances, and we want to thank all the messages of support and affection that we are receiving."

"In addition, we want to send our condolences and all our strength to the family and friends of the deceased person, and we sincerely wish that all injured people recover as soon as possible," tweeted Mari.

His loan club Monza have now confirmed that the 29-year-old has undergone reconstructive surgery on his back injuries and looks likely to be missing until the new year.

An official statement from the Serie A club read: "The specialists of the General Surgery-Trauma Team of the Niguarda Hospital in Milan carried out this morning the surgery to reconstruct the two injured muscles on Pablo Marí's back.

"The surgery went well and a hospital stay of two or three days is expected. After the resignation, the player will be able to start a rehabilitation process. This type of muscle injury usually requires two months of rest before you can resume physical activities."