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PARIS — At least two adults and four young children were injured Thursday morning in the southeastern French town of Annecy, when a Syrian asylum seeker stabbed them, for yet unknown reasons.
At least two of the four children, all under three years old, are in critical condition, the French authorities said.
French BFM TV station cited an unnamed police source saying that the alleged attacker is a 32-year-old man, of Syrian nationality, and identified him as Abdalmasih H. The source also said that the suspect, apprehended by the police, has received refugee status from Sweden. According to the report, he had asked French authorities for refugee status, but received approval from Sweden first.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin confirmed that the attacker had been arrested.
"Several people including children were injured by an individual armed with a knife in a square in Annecy. The individual was arrested thanks to the very rapid intervention of the police," Darmanin tweeted.
The incident occurred at 9:45 a.m. local time at a park near a lake on the city's outskirts, with many families present, BFM TV reported. The assailant first attacked the young children and one of the adults, and then attacked another person. Witnesses told the channel that the attacker did not say anything while stabbing his victims. He was wearing a type of bandana on his head.
The judicial police of Annecy are in charge of the investigation at this stage. The French national anti-terrorist judicial authorities are assessing the situation, to see if the attack should be classified as a terror act.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and Darmanin arrived at the site shortly after the incident. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack. "An absolute cowardly attack took place this morning at a park in Annecy. Children and an adult are fighting for their lives. The nation is in shock. Our thoughts are with them, their families and the emergency services," tweeted Macron. It was only after the tweet that the press published that two adults, not one, were injured.
