Child injured in French knife attack is British national, says James Cleverly
A woman bravely leapt in front of a pushchair to protect a young child during the knife attack at a lakeside park in the French Alps, witnesses have said.
Two of the four children badly injured in Thursday’s attack remain in a critical condition, French authorities said on Friday morning, as French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte travelled to Annecy to meet the victims’ families and those who came to their aid.
Two adults were injured, including one suffering life-threatening wounds after reportedly being stabbed six times by the attacker and hit by a police bullet. Videos from Thursday’s carnage show a bystander using his backpack in a bid to fend off the attacker after chasing him from the playground.
A suspect has been arrested and identified as a 31-year-old Syrian refugee, who authorities say had been refused asylum in France days earlier. The knifeman is reported to have invoked Jesus Christ during the attack, which prosecutors have said does not appear to be terrorism-related.
Well-wishers continued to visit the park on Friday morning to lay flowers and other tributes for those injured in the attack. The four children are between 22 months and three years old.
