Multiple children injured in knife attack in France – attackers arrested
“Victims include kindergarten children”
Several children have been injured, some critically, in a stabbing attack in Annecy, eastern France. According to French journalist Peter Heusch, the perpetrator is “a Syrian recognized as a political refugee in Sweden in 2021”.
Several children and two adults were stabbed in the eastern French city of Annecy. Police initially reported that three of the victims were in critical condition, but the number has now been revised upwards. President Macron condemned the attack as “totally cowardly”.
DThe number of people seriously injured in a stabbing attack in Annecy, eastern France, has risen to five. The four injured children and one adult are in mortal danger, lawyer Lyne Bonnet-Mathis said Thursday evening in Annecy. Another adult sustained minor injuries.
The assailant used a folding knife as a weapon. He was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. “There is no evidence of terrorist intent,” the prosecutor said. Attempted murder has now been confirmed and the assailant is in police custody. There is no evidence for the other accused.
The public prosecutor said the seriously injured children were two French, one British and one Dutch child. Earlier reports of an injured German child were based on the combination.
According to information from security sources, the man attacked a group of children with a knife at around 9.45am in a park on Lac d’Annecy. According to information from police sources, a 32-year-old Syrian man is the father of a three-year-old child. The man lived in Sweden for ten years, where he was recognized as a refugee. He applied for asylum in France last November. In it he identified himself as a Syrian Christian. During the attack, the man shouted “In the name of Jesus Christ” twice in English, according to a video seen by AFP.
Macron: “The nation is in shock”
Initially, the police spoke to up to eight injured children. A 22-month-old boy from Germany was also injured, according to local media reports. Yael Braun-Pivet, Speaker of the French National Assembly, said there is nothing more cruel than attacking children. An eyewitness told broadcaster BFMTV that at least one child was hit in a stroller. The attacker approached the victim and stabbed him.
French President Emmanuel Macron was shocked. “The nation is in shock,” he wrote on Twitter. The attack was “absolutely cowardly”.
Chancellor Olaf Schalz (SPD) also expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. “Dear Emmanuel Macron, (…) Germany is shocked by this inhumane and despicable act,” he wrote on Twitter in German and French. In the first tweet, the chancellor also addressed the allegedly injured German child, but this entry was later omitted in the updated version.
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