Following a wave of serious knife crime, healthcare centres in the Swedish city of Gothenberg say they are running low on blood reserves.

Earlier this week, healthcare professionals in the city called on residents through SMS texts to donate blood due to the shortages, which Sahlgrenska University Hospital’s Stefan Jakobsson linked to the wave of stabbings in the city, Sveriges Radio reports.

Richard Christofferson was one of those who answered the call to donate on Tuesday and commented: “I got a text message that you should come in if you could. I do it to help others who need blood, but I also have too much iron in my body so I also need to give regularly.”

Last week, Gothenburg saw two fatal stabbings including one incident that occurred at the Nordstan shopping centre on Saturday night. A 21-year-old was arrested in connection with the murder while a 24-year-old was also arrested on suspicions of assisting him.

Locals Claim Swedish City Centre Deteriorating Due to Violence and Drugs https://t.co/vRxyE2knwg — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 24, 2019

Both stabbings occurred in the centre of Gothenburg, which locals have said is becoming increasingly more dangerous due to the proliferation of drugs and rise in violence.

“It has become much worse than in the ’90s. It’s more people, more drugs, and people care less about what they do,” local taxi driver Imad El-Saneh said.

According to Mikael Rying, a criminologist at the police’s National Operational Department (NOA), deadly knife crime has increased across Sweden to levels rivalling those of the 1990s.

Most of the violence, Ryling said, is linked to cases that occur indoors, whether it is a dispute at a party or the result of domestic abuse between a couple.

Sweden to Release First Report on Migration and Crime Since 2005 https://t.co/001NLFV8P7 — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 2, 2019

Louis Riddez, chief physician at the trauma department of the Karolinska University Hospital, also claimed that he had seen a rise in cases of non-lethal knife injuries as well.

“There’s a knife injury every other day on our unit, it was maybe once a week before,” he said.