Children seriously injured in murder in Annecy, France Alps

Several young children were injured Thursday morning when a man with a knife attacked children at a park playground in the French Alpine town of Annecy. Witnesses told local media that a man wearing a headgear attacked children while they were playing.

Police were immediately dispatched to the scene, and French Interior Minister Gerard Dalmanin arrived. said in a tweet The lone suspect was “arrested thanks to prompt police intervention,” he said.

French police later said six people, including four children, were injured in the attack.

An ambulance transported the injured children to a nearby hospital. Local newspaper Le Dauphiné Liberée earlier reported that at least three of the children were in critical condition.

The children, all about three years old, were in a kindergarten class playing in the lakeside park of the European Gardens, according to reports.

The local police chief ordered the area cordoned off and asked the public to stay away. Soldiers barred access to local roads while police questioned witnesses.

Police were also ordered to set up a security perimeter around the Quai Jules Philippe school on the other side of the canal that empties into Lake Annecy.

President Emmanuel Macron condemned the attack as a “utterly cowardly attack”.

“Both children and adults are between life and death.” said in a tweet. “The public is in shock. Our thoughts are not only with them, but with their families and the emergency services on the ground.”

The mayor of Annecy, François Astorgue, arrived at the scene of the “horrible attack”.

“All my thoughts are with the victims and their families,” he tweeted.

Some media reports suggested the perpetrator was a Syrian born in 1991, but there was no immediate confirmation from police. One witness told local radio that the man spoke English and was clearly targeting children.

France’s parliament suspended debate over the controversial pension reform and offered a minute’s silence to victims.

Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne has announced that she will visit Annecy on Thursday. The Minister of the Interior was also on his way to town.