by ROB » Thu Jun 08, 2023 10:04 am
Horror as nursery children stabbed at French playground
Four children and two adults have been injured in a mass stabbing in the French city of Annecy, after a knife-wielding man stormed a playground.
Security sources told AFP, a man armed with a knife ambushed a group of children aged about three years old on Thursday morning at about 9.45am local time, at a park near a lake.
Three of the children sustained life-threatening injuries according to a source close to case, UK news site Upday reported.
Earlier Police said up to eight children had been injured.
Six children were injured in France playground stabbing. Picture: iStock
Six children were injured in France playground stabbing. Picture: iStock
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted that the culprit “has been arrested thanks to the rapid reaction of security”.
It’s understood he is now in hospital receiving medical treatment after being subdued by police.
Reports suggest the knifeman is a Syrian asylum seeker.
Regional deputy Antoine Armand described the attack as “abominable”, with French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne currently on her way to the scene.
Meanwhile, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez tweeted: “Horror again. This attack on children is the height of the abomination.”
“I extend my full support to the victims and their families. Congratulations to our police officers for the courage they showed in arresting the assailant.”
A witness told news site France Bleu they thought the attack was staged, before hearing the cries of victims and bystanders.
“We saw a person attacking children, small ones, obviously that was his target. After people tried to scare him, he walked away and the police intervened,” they said.
“He spoke English. In the beginning, we all thought it was staged, but with the cries of people, we realise that it‘s reality, the guy was confused.”
Meanwhile another person told the platform they’ve seen the man wondering around the park before.
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“He was there every morning, from morning to night and everyone had spotted him a little because he was all alone,” they said.
“We said ‘who was he, he’s weird’, but on the other hand, he said hello to us. He didn’t talk to us more, then he said hello to us.”