Knife attack in Annecy, France, leaves five people wounded

A Syrian national wounded four young children and an adult in a knife attack in a park in the southeastern French town of Annecy on Thursday, police said, and some of the victims were in critical condition.

A police spokesman said 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 unclear, an investigative source said, adding that anti-terrorism authorities had not been asked to lead the investigation at this stage.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who travelled to Annecy with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, said on Twitter that the attacker had been arrested. BFM TV showed footage of several policemen overpowering an individual in the park.

'An act of absolute cowardice'

Two children and one adult were in life-threatening condition, while two children were less seriously hurt, police said. The wounded children were aged between 22 months and 3 years, they said.

One of the wounded children was a British national, British foreign minister James Cleverly said.

"Children and one adult are between life and death. The nation is in shock," French President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter, calling the attack "an act of absolute cowardice".

(Reuters)