French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, will visit the victims of a stabbing attack in the French Alps that injured four preschool-age children and two adults, three seriously, the Elysee Palace reported. .
“Following yesterday’s attack, the president of the republic and his wife will visit the victims and their families today, as well as all those in Annecy who have contributed to help and support them,” the palace said on Friday.
The injured children, one aged 22 months, two aged two and one aged three, were being treated at hospitals in the French Alps and across the Swiss border in Geneva. One of the wounded infantrymen was British and the other Dutch.
Government spokesman Olivier Véran said on Friday that two children remained in critical condition. “According to the most recent information I have, two children are still considered to be in a life-threatening condition,” he told France Info radio.
Haute-Savoie regional authorities said one of the adult victims was seriously injured in the attack, which occurred at a children’s playground near Lake Annecy. BFM TV said the adult victims were men aged 70 and 78.
The motive for the attack remains unclear and police have not yet been able to interview the suspect, a Syrian national identified by authorities as Abdelmasih H, who had refugee status in Sweden, due to his “agitated” state, French media reported.
Annecy prosecutor Line-Bonnet Mathis said there were no obvious terrorist motives and other officials told reporters the suspect had not been under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack, around 9:45 a.m. local time (08:45 BST). Thursday.
French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said the 31-year-old suspected attacker was not known to any intelligence service and had no history of psychiatric problems. She said that he was homeless and an isolated individual.
Authorities said the suspect had previously lived for 10 years in Sweden and was recently divorced. He had also requested asylum in Switzerland, Italy and France, the French request being rejected last Sunday due to his refugee status in Sweden.
Prosecutors said he entered France legally in November 2022 and was “very slightly” injured during his arrest.
Police sources told Le Monde that the man had declared himself a Syrian Christian in his French asylum application. According to a video of the attack seen by France Info radio, he shouted the words “in the name of Jesus Christ” in English before the attack.
French media reported that the alleged attacker’s mental health was a cause for concern. BFM TV said an attempted murder investigation had been opened, but police had not yet been able to question him.
The station cited unnamed sources as saying the suspect had been “incoherent” since his arrest and had rolled on the ground several times. He will be examined by a psychiatrist later on Friday, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said.
If the man’s condition is deemed incompatible with his continued questioning and detention, further tests will be carried out and he may eventually be transferred to a psychiatric hospital, experts told BFM.
The attack plunged France into shock. Macron described it as an act “of absolute cowardice”, tweeting on Thursday: “Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and the rescuers.” Borne expressed “all the support and solidarity of the nation.”