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A gang of heroic bystanders including three Brits helped tackle a knifeman who stabbed a woman in Sydney, pinning him down with chairs and a milk crate.

The knife-wielding 21-year-old was seen shouting in the street with blood down his front while brandishing a huge blade.

He jumped on top of a car while shouting that he wanted to be shot in the head by police during the crazed rampage in the Australian city’s Central Business District on Tuesday.

One woman was hospitalised after being stabbed in the back during the unprovoked attack, but was in a stable condition, and the knifeman was arrested.

He was allegedly yelling "Allahu akbar" or "God is great" during the attack. Local news reports said he had absconded from a mental health facility.

The knifeman was tackled to the ground by a group of brave witnesses, including Lee Cuthbert, Paul O'Shaughnessy and Luke O'Shaughnessy, all from Manchester.

The three Brits were working in the area when they heard the man attempting to stab several people outside, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Both said they were "proud" of their actions, but denied they were heroes - despite police and the country's prime minister commending them for helping to tackle the suspect.

Paul, 37, a former midfielder with football club Bury between 1999 and 2004, said: "I didn't even think about it. I just thought is my brother going to be OK as we ran towards him."

"Our values as brothers is we are protectors."

Brother Luke, 30, said: "I just wanted to make sure he couldn't hurt anyone else.

"We've talked before about what we would do when we hear about these things happening around the world.

"We're the kind of guys who ask questions later and act on instinct."

"If it happened again I would do it again and act quicker."

The pair, who run digital talent agency MAP Talent, were in their office on York Street when the drama unfolded at around 3.15pm local time.

Other passers-by also stopped to help, including two firefighters. The brothers said they kept the attacker detained until the police arrived on scene.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison praised the "brave" people who helped to take down the knifeman in a series of tweets.

He said: "The violent attack that took place in Sydney this afternoon is deeply concerning.

"The attacker is now in police custody following the brave actions of those who were present at the scene and able to restrain him.

"The motivation for this attack has not yet been determined as police are continuing with their enquiries.

"Our thoughts are with all of those who have been impacted by this violent attack."

The motivation for the attack is unknown, according Superintendent Gavin Wood of New South Wales Police.

He also praised those who intervened, adding: "A number of members of the public actually physically restrained the offender.

"And I want to acknowledge those people, those members of the public who got involved. They are brave, and I can only use that word seriously.

"They are significantly brave people. They approach the person... with clear evidence of a stabbing previously. These people are heroes, and I want to acknowledge that.

"These members of the public going about their day-to-day business have jumped into a situation which was extremely dangerous, extremely hostile, and they have brought a person - who we will be alleging stabbed an innocent person for no specific reason - into custody and allowed us to do our job.

"The male offender responsible for the stabbing is in custody - all I can conclusively say is the male offender is on his own and no other person is complicit at this stage.

"We are in the infancy stage of the stabbing investigation, there are a number of crime scenes, they are being thoroughly investigated."

The man whose car was jumped on by the suspect said he had been driving for Uber at the time, and was carrying an elderly couple.

He said he saw that traffic had stopped and people were running, telling Nine News Sydney: "All of a sudden this guy appeared with a knife in his hand covered in blood, down the front shirt, and next thing I thought OK well obviously I can't go through all these cars.

"As I'm thinking about doing something the guy jumps on the front of the car which was on the bonnet over here and then he goes up to the very top."

He added: "I froze for probably a split second but then I thought I'm hoping that he's not covered in any explosives or anything, so I quickly accelerated so he can get off the car."

He said he drove left and then took a right turn where he could see the suspect again being chased by police and public.

"He was fearless. He was completely fearless," he said, adding that he had "a big scary knife" in his hand.