Paris Knife attack: 7 people injured, 4 in critical condition
Two British tourists, among seven others, were wounded in Paris after they were attacked by a man carrying a knife and an iron bar, said the police. Four are in critical condition. As per Le Parisien newspaper, a source claimed that the attacker has been arrested and is reportedly an Afghan national. His motives are not yet known. Here are more details.
What exactly happened?
As per Le Parisien newspaper, the assailant, who was armed with a knife and a metal rod, attacked three people near a cinema on the Canal de l'Ourcq , just after 11 pm (local time) on Sunday. A group of men playing pétanque nearby tried to stop him. However, they couldn't stop the attacker who went down to side street and attacked the people.
Petanque balls were thrown to stop the attacker
"I saw him running along the canal and he was holding a knife of about 25-30 cm long. Around 20 people were chasing him and throwing Petanque balls at him but he didn't stop," told 28-year-old Youssef Najah to AFP.
Thankful to those who stood against the attacker: Mounir Mahjoubi
Mounir Mahjoubi, the junior minister for Digital Affairs in France, took to Twitter to thank "the people who intervened against the attacker." "Solidarity with the victims and profound gratitude for the fire fighters and the emergency services who immediately arrived, and for the police forces who enabled the arrest," Mr. Mahjoubi said in a official statement.
Solidarity to the victims and gratitude for the police: Mahjoubi
Not first such attack in Paris
Unfortunately, such attacks have become quite common in Paris. Notably, Paris was targeted in several terrorist attacks between January and November 2015, but there have been no large scale attacks since then. However, there has been a series of attacks by lone assailants, some of whom have either become radicalized or claims to be acting in the name of Islamic groups.
