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France: Knife attack in Annecy leaves 4 children injured

Published June 8, 2023last updated June 8, 2023

Officials said there was no "apparent terrorist motive" in the attack in the French Alps town. The suspect, who has been arrested, was identified as a Syrian man with refugee status in Sweden.

https://p.dw.com/p/4SKHc
Ambulance, police car, police and onlookers at site of knife attack in Annecy, Haute-Savoie, France
Multiple children and one adult were attacked by a man wielding a knife in the eastern French town of AnnecyImage: picture alliance/dpa/MAXPPP

At least six people, including four young children aged between 22 months and 3 years, have been injured in a mass stabbing in the town of Annecy in the French Alps, French authorities said.

Prosecutors said among the wounded children were a British national and a Dutch one. 

British Foreign Minister James Cleverly said London "deployed British consular officials" to support the family of the victim. 

"Our thoughts are with the victims and the families and we stand ready to support the French authorities in whichever way we can," he said.

Annecy is a town of 135,000 people in the eastern region of Haute-Savoie. It is near the Swiss border and is popular with tourists.

How did the attack unfold? 

An anonymous local official and a security source told French news agency Agence-France Presse (AFP) that the attack occurred at 9:45 a.m. local time (0745 UTC).

Authorities said two of the children and one of the adults were in life-threatening condition.

The attack was carried out at a park near the town's lake.

A video circulated on social media appeared to show an attacker jumping a low wall fence into a children's playground and lunging at a child's stroller. He then pushed aside a woman who tried to fend him off.

Police said they shot and detained him. 

A police officer investigates at the scene after a knife attack
The man attacked a child in a stroller at the playgroundImage: Laurent Cipriani/AP Photo/picture alliance

Suspect arrested

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter that the suspected attacker "has been arrested thanks to the rapid reaction of security forces."

Authorities identified the suspect as a Syrian national with a 10-year refugee status in Sweden who had sought asylum in France. The alleged assailant had no criminal record and no record of mental illness, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told reporters.  

Prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis told a press conference that the 31-year-old man has one child aged the same as those he attacked. She added that the attack lacked "an apparent terrorist motive."

What has been the reaction in France?

Lawmakers in parliament held a minute's silence after news of the incident broke. 

Members of the National Assembly stand and applaud to pay homage to children victims of a knife attack in a town the French Alps
Members of the National Assembly paid homage to children victims of the attackImage: Lewis Joly/AP Photo/picture alliance

"We hope that the consequences of this extremely serious attack are not consequences that will send the country into mourning," parliament speaker Yael Braun-Pivet said.

French President Emmanuel Macron called the attack an act of "absolute cowardice."

"Two children and one adult are between life and death. The nation is in shock," he said.

fb, sdi/lo (AP, Reuters, AFP)