Six people were injured, including four children and two adultsfrom knife attack in a playground today in the French city of Annecy, according to the latest update from French Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne and the local prosecutor.

The injured children were aged 22 months and three years old and some of them are in “serious condition” in intensive care as Ms Bourne mentioned.

In her statements to reporters, she stated that the suspect, who has been arrested, is Syrian national who had refugee status in Sweden and that he had no criminal or psychiatric record.

“We are all terribly shocked by this,” she added.

The prosecutor of Annecy, Lynn Bonet-Matis, stated at the press conference that for the time being there does not appear to be any terrorist motive behind the attack, clarifying that the investigation that has been launched concerns attempted murders.

The French prosecutor stated that the suspect has a child of the same age with one of the children who were attacked.

It said that among the injured children were 22-month-old and three-year-old children, confirming that the incident happened at a playground.

She noted that all the witnesses and victims who were not injured he is in a state of shock and receive help from a special medical team.

Among the injured children is one who has British citizenship, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said.

“One of the injured children has British citizenship. We have already deployed British consular officials to … support the family,” Cleverley told an Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) news conference in Paris.

“Our thoughts are with the victims and families and we stand ready to support the French authorities in any way we can.”

A local prosecutor said a while ago that two of the four children who were injured in the knife attack in a park in the city of Annecy, had foreign citizenship, one Dutch and the other British.

The moment of the arrest of the perpetrator

[ 🇫🇷ENFANTS ATTAQUÉS À ANNECY ]

🔴Diffusion of a short video showing the interpellation of the individual who stabbed several children on an aire de jeu, this morning. pic.twitter.com/sbcDk5xldO

— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank) June 8, 2023

THE Emmanuel Macron spoke of an “attack of utter cowardice” in Annecy. “Children and an adult are between life and death. The nation is in shock,” the French president said in a tweet.

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 accompagneent ainsi que leurs familles et les secours mobilisés.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 8, 2023

Who is the perpetrator?

According to the identity information provided by the attacker, he was born in 1991, is Syrian, an asylum seeker and is unknown to the authorities, a police source told AFP. A police official who spoke to Reuters said he had legal refugee status in France. He was not known to security services and his motives are not clear, a source in the investigation told Reuters.

Currently it is assessed whether the attack has a terrorist nature or not, according to a source close to the case.

“It happened at 9:45 [10:45 ώρα Ελλάδας] this morning, with a knife”near the Garden of Europe, a busy park located on the shores of Lake Annecy, the prefecture said.

“He jumped (into the playground), started shouting and then went towards the prams, repeatedly stabbing the children,” an eyewitness who said his name was Ferdinand told BFM TV.

“Moms were crying, everyone was running”said Georges, another eyewitness and owner of a nearby restaurant.

The television network aired footage showing several assailants subduing a person in a park.

Passersby try to immobilize the perpetrator

🔴 Vidéo du demandeur d’asile syrien a qui poignardé des enfants à #Annecy. pic.twitter.com/RlmTfFDyah

— Damien Rieu (@DamienRieu) June 8, 2023

The Minister of the Interior Géral Darmanen immediately reacted on Twitter: “Several people, including children, were injured by a person armed with a knife in a square in Annecy. The person was arrested thanks to the swift intervention of law enforcement.”

Several people without children were wounded by an individual armed with a knife in a square in Annecy. L’individu a été interpellé thanks to l’intervention très rapide des forces de l’ordre.

— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) June 8, 2023

A crisis management center was established in the Haute-Savoie prefecture, which also set up a public information mechanism.

According to the Dauphiné libéré newspaper, the victims were taken to the Annecy Genevois hospital center and the witnesses were taken to a building near the site of the attack, the area of ​​which was cordoned off by a significant police force.

“Very serious attack”

According to eyewitnesses who spoke to BFM TV, after the attack, the man tried to escape from the playground and attacked an elderly person before being quickly apprehended by the police.

In Paris, MPs and members of the government observed a minute’s silence in the National Assembly. The president of the National Assembly, Yael Bron-Pivet, called for a minute’s silence “for the children, for their families” after this “very serious” attack.

Après l’attaque au knife contre des enfants à #Annecyl’Assemblée nationale observe une minute de silence pic.twitter.com/nfiyMmzeWt

— Antoine Llorca (@antoinellorca) June 8, 2023

The prime minister Elizabeth Bourne and Géral Darmanen are expected on the ground, their colleagues told AFP.

“Horrifying attack this morning in Paquier in Annecy. All my thoughts to the victims and their families,” Mayor François Astorg wrote on Twitter, urging the public to avoid the Paquier area.

The entire political world reacted immediately.

“Horror gripped us all,” tweeted the president of the Renaissance parliamentary group (presidential majority) in the National Assembly Oror Berge, while Eric Cioti (The Republicans, right) spoke of “huge emotion and great anger”.

“The investigation will determine the circumstances, but it seems that the perpetrator had the same profile that we often find in these attacks. We must draw all conclusions without naivety, with strength and clarity.” he further said, speaking to the National Assembly.

“How is that possible? Attack on children! Hit them with a knife! It broke our hearts to experience it,” said on his part Jean-Luc Mélenchon (Insubordinate France, radical left).

“Horror and Terror”, said on the part of Marine Le Pen of the National Alarm (RN, extreme right).