Updated: Author Salman Rushdie off ventilator, able to talk

Author Salman Rushdie has been taken off a ventilator and can talk again, nearly two days after being stabbed at least 10 times in the face, neck, and abdomen.

Rushdie’s agent Andrew Wylie confirmed the development on Sunday.

He said the author’s injuries are “severe” but he is “on the road to recovery.”

“He’s off the ventilator, so the road to recovery has begun.

“It will be long; the injuries are severe, but his condition is headed in the right direction,” Wylie noted.

Mr Rushdie, 75, was attacked while speaking at an event in New York state.

He has faced years of death threats for his novel The Satanic Verses, which some Muslims see as blasphemous.

Hadi Matar, the man charged over Friday’s attack has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.

The 24-year-old has now been remanded in custody without bail.

Matar is accused of running onto the stage and stabbing Mr. Rushdie.

Following the attack, his agent Andrew Wylie said the novelist had suffered severed nerves in one arm, damage to his liver, and would likely lose an eye.