Of those stabbed in the town of Annecy, at least two small children are said to be in mortal danger.
Roni Kuronen,
Ilmari Reunamäki
Several people have been stabbed in the French Alps on Thursday. According to the police, at least five people have been injured in the stabbing, four of whom are small children of playing age.
Two children and one adult are in life-threatening condition following stabbing injuries. In addition, two children have been slightly injured, the police tell the news agency Reuters.
A man attacked the children’s playground
French Minister of the Interior by Gérald Darmanin According to the report, the stabbing took place in the town of Annecy near the Swiss border. Darmanin tells messaging service on Twitterthat the police was able to arrest the stabber quickly.
– He wanted to attack absolutely everyone. I managed to dodge the situation and after this he pounced on an elderly couple and stabbed an old man, a former professional football player Anthony Le Tallec tells Le Dauphiné Libéré.
Le Tallec was jogging in the park at the time of the incident.
According to an AFP source, the knifeman attacked the three-year-old children while they were on the playground on Thursday morning.
According to witnesses, at least one of the victims was sitting in a stroller.
– He rushed to the playground and started screaming. After that, he approached the stroller and stabbed the little ones numerous times, an eyewitness tells the news channel BFM TV.
– The mothers were crying and everyone was running around, says another eyewitness.
The police informs that the attacker is a male Syrian who applied for asylum in France in November. According to police sources interviewed by Reuters, the man had been granted asylum in France.
According to an interview given by the police to the French media, the attacker was also granted refugee status in Sweden in April.
The motive for the attack is not yet known, and the perpetrator was not already known to the police. According to the French BFM TV news channel, the attacker was born in 1991.
Prime Minister of France Elisabeth Borne is on its way to the venue, and a minute’s silence has been observed in the French Parliament.
Macron: The nation is in shock
President of France Emmanuel Macron comment on Twitter knife attack as “total cowardice”.
According to Macron, several children and an adult are on the verge of life and death, and the nation is in shock.
The news is updated.
Sources: AFP, AP, Reuters