Several children were injured in a knife attack in the French Alps town of Annecy on Thursday, authorities said. The most recent report indicates that five people were injured, four of them children, according to the AFP. Two of the children and an adult are in critical condition.
Initially the average French reported six to eight injured children.
A man armed with a knife attacked a group of children around three years old at 09:45 (08:45 in Lisbon) in a park near the city’s lakeaccording to AFP, citing several sources.
“Je vois qu’il fonce tout droit sur un papy”
Un témoin décrit l’attaque au couteau qui est survenu ce jeudi matin dans un parc à Annecy pic.twitter.com/DYULSG0dFJ
-BFMTV (@BFMTV) June 8, 2023
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the attacker was “detained thanks to the swift response of the security forces”.
Plusieurs personnes don’t des enfants ont été blessés par un individual armé d’un couteau dans un square à Annecy.
– Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) June 8, 2023
The arrested man has Syrian nationality and is an asylum seeker, a police source told AFP.
French President Emmanuel Macron “is monitoring the situation”, initially told the Élysée Palace. Later, the head of state responded by classifying this attack as an act of “absolute cowardice”.
“Children and an adult are between life and death. The nation is in shock. Our thoughts are with them and their families,” the French president wrote on Twitter.
There is definitely a place to eat in a park in Annecy. The children and an adult can have fun between life and death. La Nation est sous le choc.
– Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 8, 2023
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that she would go to the site of the attack and a minute’s silence was held in the National Assembly.
ALERT – Des enfants d’une école maternelle, âgés d’environ 3 ans, ont été attaqués au couteau par un individual au lac d’#Annecy. Au moins 7 blessés don’t 6 enfants. L’homme a été maîtrisé. The nombreux security agents, policymakers and military are in place (Le Dauphiné). pic.twitter.com/iMcrSwJBgx
– Infos Françaises (@InfosFrançaises) June 8, 2023
Updated
Source: DN
