On Thursday, June 8, a man went on a stabbing spree in Annecy, France, injuring seven people, including six children. The accused, a Syrian asylum seeker, has been apprehended. Though officials have not disclosed the identity of the accused, The Mirror, citing sources, identified the attacker as Abdel Masih H.
The stabbing occurred at a park in Annecy at around 9:45 am (local time), where several children aged three to five were present as part of a school excursion. At least two of the children hurt in the incident are in critical condition.
Annecy is a scenic town in the French Alps close to the border with Switzerland popular with tourists.
Eyewitnesses told French news outlet Le Dauphine that the accused attacked the children while they were playing at a small playground in the French town.
“He wanted to attack everyone. I moved away and he lunged at an old man and woman and stabbed the old man,” NDTV quoted former professional footballer Anthony Le Tallec, who was running in the park, telling the local Dauphine Libere newspaper.
Meanwhile, a video reportedly showing a man fleeing after stabbing five people on Thursday has gone viral. A freelance journalist posted the video, which is gaining popularity on Twitter. The six-second video shows a man in black shorts and a sweatshirt racing through a park while locals chase him. The man is also wearing a cap. In the background, some people can be heard screaming.
#Breaking: Update – Video footage reportedly taken minutes after the terror stabbing attack in #Annecy, #France, showing you the Syrian suspect running away after being chased by locals, while people scream for help in the background for the children that had been stabbed. pic.twitter.com/WufuLkgMkf
— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) June 8, 2023
French Interior Minister Darmanin, meanwhile, took to Twitter to condemn the incident. “Several people, including six children were injured by an individual armed with a knife in a square in Annecy. The individual was arrested, thanks to the very rapid intervention of the police,” he tweeted.
Plusieurs personnes dont des enfants ont été blessés par un individu armé d’un couteau dans un square à Annecy. L’individu a été interpellé grâce à l’intervention très rapide des forces de l’ordre.
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) June 8, 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron called it an “attack of absolute cowardice”.
“The nation is shocked. Our thoughts are with (the victims) as well as their families and the emergency services,” he tweeted.
Attaque d’une lâcheté absolue ce matin dans un parc à Annecy. Des enfants et un adulte sont entre la vie et la mort. La Nation est sous le choc. Nos pensées les accompagnent ainsi que leurs familles et les secours mobilisés.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 8, 2023
“Nothing more abominable than to attack children,” French national assembly speaker Yael Braun-Pivet said on Twitter.
The French parliament observed a minute of silence to mark the incident and roads are blocked around the scene of the attack.
A police spokesman, meanwhile, informed that the attacker was a 31-year-old Syrian asylum seeker who carried Swedish identity documents and a Swedish driving license. He entered France legally and was not known to security agencies.
His motives were unknown, according to an investigative source, who added that anti-terrorism officials had not been asked to lead the inquiry at this point.
According to reports, the accused had entered France illegally. According to The Telegraph UK, the individual applied for asylum at the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (Ofpra) on November 28, 2022. On April 26, 2023, the accused claimed to have gained refugee status in Sweden. As a result, his appeal for asylum in France was futile because he was lawful under EU law, according to the French news source Libération.
