Children were among eight people injured Thursday in a knife attack in Annecy, in southeast France, local officials said.
A male suspect was detained in connection with the attack.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne will travel to Annecy with Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Thursday, according to the interior ministry.
French President Emmanuel Macron said “The nation is in shock,” following the attack.
“Absolute cowardice this morning in a park in Annecy. Children and an adult are between life and death. The nation is in shock. Our thoughts are with them, their families and the emergency services,” Macron tweeted.
Health Minister François Braun tweeted that his thoughts were with the victims of the knife attack.
“All my thoughts go immediately to the people injured by an individual armed with a knife in Annecy, and to their loved ones,” Braun tweeted.
“I salute the rapid mobilization of the emergency services to take care of the victims, and notably the Urgent Medical Aid Service (SAMU).”
Lawmakers in the French National Assembly observed a minute’s silence for those injured in the attack.
In a park by the lake in Annecy, the children – aged around three – were on a morning outing with their minders when a man wielding a knife suddenly appeared and began to stab them, some in their pushchairs.
He ran from the scene and then attacked an elderly man who was walking nearby.
At this point, police intervened, and the attacker was shot in the legs and overpowered.
Two children and an elderly man are reported to be in a life-threatening condition in hospital.
Police say the attacker is a Syrian man, aged 45, who was seeking refugee status.
French President Emmanuel Macron has tweeted about the knife attack, calling it an act of “cowardice“.
He says children and an adult are in critical condition, which ties in with the most recent reports by AFP, outlined in our previous post.
“The nation is in shock,” Macron adds.
“Our thoughts are with [those hurt] as well as their families and the emergency services.”
By Agencies
