The knife attack on Thursday rocked the French Alpine town of Annecy, just before the annual Annecy International A few days before the Animated Film Festival is scheduled to start on Sunday.
A knife attacker stabbed several young children and at least one adult, some with life-threatening injuries, authorities said. The attacker’s motive and identity are not yet known. The attack took place on Le Paquier, the large lawn on the shores of Lake Annecy, where most of the town’s events take place.
“The Annecy International Animated Film Festival management and team are appalled by the tragic events at Le Paquier this morning,” organizers said in a statement. “Our immediate thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
JUNE FUN -11 lakeside town 14 a few miles south of Geneva, Switzerland, expected to attract some 14 ,000 Animation experts and fans. Nicknamed “The Pearl of the French Alps”, it has a population of approximately 22, up to .
In a brief tweet, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said police had detained the attacker. “In a square in Annecy, a man with a knife injured several people, including children,” he tweeted.
Witnesses said, Some of these children appeared to be very young. One man who spoke to broadcaster BFMTV said he saw first responders working on “little people who might have been 3 or 4 years old”.
Assaulted on the playground. The victims included “very young” children who had been “savagely attacked”, he told BFMTV at the National Assembly building in Paris. He said the attack happened near an elementary school.
The National Police and an Interior Ministry official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss developments. Both said four children were among the wounded.
Two of the children suffered life-threatening injuries and two others suffered minor injuries, police said. An adult also suffered life-threatening injuries, police said. Both police and Home Office officials warned that the number of injured could change because full details were not yet known.
In Paris, lawmakers interrupted a debate to observe a moment of silence for victims.
Congress President Yaël Braun-Pivet said: “There are young children who are in critical condition and I ask you to observe a minute’s silence for them because of their families, so we hope that this time it will be very serious. The aftermath of the attack will not cause national grief.”
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