PARIS: A Syrian national wounded four children and an adult in a knife attack in a French park on Thursday, leaving some of the victims in a critical state, the police said.
The attack, which happened in the alpine town of Annecy, was carried out by a 31-year-old Syrian national having legal refugee status in France, a police official said. The victim kids were aged between 22 months and three years.
“The nation is in shock,” French President Emmanuel Macron stated on Twitter, calling the attack “an act of absolute cowardice”. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Twitter that the attacker had been arrested.
Two children and one adult are in life-threatening condition, while two children are slightly hurt, the police said. Witnesses said at least one child involved was in a stroller. A TV showed footage of several policemen overpowering an individual in a park. “Nothing more abominable than to attack children,” French national assembly speaker Yael Braun-Pivet tweeted. The French parliament observed a minute of silence to mark the incident.