A man is fighting for his life in hospital after being stabbed with a butcher knife during an altercation in downtown Toronto early Friday morning.

Emergency crews were called to a homeless shelter at 129 Peter Street near Queen Street West around 3:45 a.m. following reports of an altercation between two men.

“[The stabbing] appears to have happened outside the shelter,” a police spokesperson said.

Paramedics rushed the victim, a man in his 40s, to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after he was found suffering from a stab wound to the stomach.

A 38-year-old man was arrested at the scene.

Authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward.