France stabbing: British child among children attacked in playground by knifeman

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French prosecutors have said that the suspect was “neither under the influence of drugs nor alcohol.”

According to BFMTV, all four children remain in critical condition. 

The suspect behind Thursday’s stabbing attack is a married 31-year-old Syrian refugee who has lived in Europe for around a decade, mostly in Sweden. 

He is said to be a Christian from northeastern Syria and officials say he does not appear to have any links to terrorism. 

He reportedly has a three-year-old daughter who remains with her mother in Sweden. 

Read more here. 

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and local prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis have provided an update at a press conference following an attack in Annecy in which four children were stabbed.

Here is what we learnt as a result

• British and Dutch child among four children in a critical condition - two adults also injured
• Suspect is Syrian national who had refugee status in Sweden
• No evidence to suggest attack had terrorist motive - suspect had neither criminal or psychiatric record

Ms Borne said France was in shock as an investigation is launched.

Mothers were filmed frantically running through a playground to shield their babies from a Syrian asylum-seeker who stabbed four nursery age children, including a British girl, and an elderly couple in the French town of Annecy, reports James Crisp.

The four toddlers were left in a critical condition after the knife attack in a children’s playground at about 9.45am on Thursday.

A three-year-old English girl was one of the children stabbed and was transferred to Grenoble hospital centre.

Read more here.

Annecy mayor François Astorg has said psychological support will be offered to “shocked” residents in the wake of the playground attack.

In comments reported by Le Dauphine, Mr Astorg said: ““I have an appointment with the municipal police tomorrow. Some are shocked. What happened is shocking.”

Asked to comment on anger from some politicians and on social media about the fact that the man was an asylum seeker, Ms Borne added: “Before we get carried away, let the investigation get underway. 

“Our thoughts today are wtih the parents, children and all Annecy residents.”

Elisabeth Borne, the prime minister, said: “We are all overhwelmed by this odious and unspeakable act. When it affects children, I thing that everyone is deeply affected and today our entire country is in shock.”

“My first thoughts go to the parents and children who are still in a serious condition and to the adults who are also wounded. The investigation will determine both the background, the profile of this assailant and naturally everything must be elucidated. 

“But today is a time for emotion and we are here with the interior minister, by the side of the inhabitants of Annecy, to express all our support and the solidarity of the nation.” 

The prosecutor said that an investigation for attempted murder had been opened by the judicial police. 

The suspect was in custody and being questioned by police. While the motive “remains to be determined”, initial investigations suggested there was “no apparent terrorist motive”. 

The prosecutor said that the suspect was “homeless” and that had acted “alone”. 

“We made contact with all judicial and intelligence services around Europe, and this man has no criminal or psychiatric record,” she said.

Annecy’s prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said the children all suffered life-threatening injuries in the attack in Annecy at a press conference.

She said: “The four minors (stabbed) are all four in a critical condition.” 

One is 22 months old, two are two years old and one is three.

“One of the children is Dutch and another English. They were tourists because the attack took place in a play area in a park opposite lake Annecy,” she said, adding that their countries’ “consular services” were aware of the situation.

An adult was stabbed six times and then hit by a bullet fired by a police officer. The suspect, who was carrying “one knife”, only received “light” injuries.

Sir Keir Starmer offered his solidarity with France after several very young children were stabbed in the French Alps.

A witness has spoken of his shock after the stabbing in Annecy,

Dominique Griziaux said he was nearby when the wail of sirens filled the air. The attack has left him feeling sick inside.

“You put yourself in the place of parents and grandparents put through this drama,” said Griziaux, an Annecy resident, adding that an attack on such young children was “just unthinkable”.

“You’d never think this could be possible in such a peaceful, bucolic environment as Annecy.”

Annecy prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis (left) and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne (centre) hold press conference after several children and an adult have been injured in a knife attack at the Le Paquier park in Annecy

French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne has told the press conference the suspect had no criminal or psychiatric record.

She confirmed the male is a Syrian national who had refugee status in Sweden.

The local prosecutor later added the suspect has a child the same age as one of the victims.

French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne says the community in Annecy has been shaken by the attack.

She made the remarks at the start of a press conference in which the prosecutor indicated the attack is not currently being treated as terrorism.

Four children aged between 22 months and three suffered life-threatening wounds while two adults were also injured.

The British child stabbed in a French playground was on holiday with their family, a prosecutor has said.

The prosecutor of Annecy has confirmed that a British girl is among the victims, along with a Dutch child.

She said they were on holiday as the park by lake Annecy is highly frequented by tourists.

James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, has confirmed that a British child is among the victims injured following the attack.

“Our thoughts are with the victims and the families and we stand ready to support the French authorities in whichever way we can,” he said at an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) press conference.

“Also aware that one of the people, one of the children injured, was a British national. We have already deployed British consular officials who are travelling to the area to make themselves available to support the family.

“And of course we stand in strong solidarity with the people of France at this terrible time.”

Far-Right groups are calling for demonstrations on Thursday in downtown Annecy, reports say.

“A message has been circulating since noon in radical circles”, Liberation newspaper reported.

On 16th May, around 40 members of far-Right groups staged an undeclared demonstration in Annecy.

They held banners during the event that read “France for the French”.

Yves Le Saux, the archbishop of Annecy, has said that a mass will be held on Friday in Annecy cathedral in tribute to the victims and their families.

He said: “This tragedy poses questions about violence that is running through our society and pushes us to work every harder, together, to fight it.”

An employee who works by the pontoons at lake Annecy said he had seen the suspect before.

He told Le Dauphiné Libéré that the suspect had been “sitting on a bench in Le Pâquier every day for the past two months”.

He said he didn’t talk but had never been aggressive until today.

Video shared on social media shows a man being apprehended by police

The suspect in the stabbing is a 32-year old Syrian born male. 

The individual had applied for asylum at the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) on November 28, 2022, as part of a classic asylum procedure, according to a source close to the investigation.

But he had in the meantime obtained refugee status in Sweden on April 26, 2023. “His request in France was therefore pointless. He was legal from the point of view of EU law”, a source told Libération.

Investigators told the paper they believed that this was “an isolated act”. 

Authorities in the Haute-Savoie region have issued a press release, which says that there are a total of six victims, four of which are children.

Police had earlier said that four children and one adult were injured in total.

Anthony Le Tallec, the former Liverpool footballer, witnessed the aftermath of the horrific attack when he was jogging in the park. 

Mr Le Tallec, who is now a coach for Annecy FC, said he was running by a lake when he “I saw around ten people running in the opposite direction.”

“I asked them what was happening and someone told me, run, run, there is someone stabbing people,” the former forward, who also had a loan spell at Sunderland, said.

“I saw the guy opposite me, being chased by cops five or ten metres behind him, trying to catch him.” he wrote on Instagram. 

“I saw children at the end of the lake, some children on the ground. Some injured children, it’s horrible.”

Elisbeth Borne, the French prime minister, and Gérald Darmanin, the interior minister, have arrived at the scene and are expected to make statements on Thursday afternoon.

Charlotte Caubel, minister for childhood, said: “Once again, our children are the targets of rising violence in our society. This act cannot go unpunished.”

Witnesses who were at the scene at the time of the attack have described how it unfolded.

Ferdinand, a witness, told BFMTV that a knifeman “jumped out”, “started shouting, went towards the pushchairs and started repeatedly stabbing the children”.

Anthony, another witness, said the attack took place in a playground where there are “boats, pedalos and countless tourists”. 

He said the knifeman stabbed an old man after seeing he was surrounded by police officers.

“I was telling (the police) to shoot him,” Anthony said.

François Astorg, the mayor of Annecy, said: “The situation is under control, there is no longer any danger”. 

He confirmed confirmed a press conference was scheduled for 11.30am BST. The conference has since been pushed back to 12.30pm BST.

France’s National Assembly held a minutes silence in tribute to the victims on Thursday.

Marine Le Pen, who Mr Macron beat last year to win a second term as president, said she learnt of the attack with “fear and horror”. 

She said: “It is with fear and horror that we learn of the aggression of young children in Annecy by an individual armed with a knife. My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.”

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the hard-Left leader, who came third in the presidential elections, said: “Our hearts are torn to shreds by having to live through this.”

“How is this possible? Attacking children! Hitting them with a knife!” he told the National Assembly.

Fanny, a witness in the park, told BFMTV that calm had been restored at the scene.

“This is the best-known park in Annecy. This is where all activities take place and where all young residents of Annecy meet. It’s a very peaceful place and I’ve never heard of an attack. It’s astonishing,” she said.

President Emmanuel Macron has denounced “an act of absolute cowardice in a park in Annecy”.

He said in a post on twitter: “Children and an adult are fighting for their life. The nation is in shock. Our thoughts go to them and their families and the emergency services on the scene.”

The attack took place in the town of Annecy in the French Alps.

French soldiers and police officers have cordoned off the scene at a park in Annecy.

• Two children and adult in critical condition
• At least four children and one adult injured
• A suspect is in custody
• Man in custody reported to be Syrian asylum seeker
• Prime minister on way to scene

Follow for more updates.