Macron visits the victims of the Onsi knife attack, while two children remain in a state of criticism | France

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French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte will visit victims of a knife attack in the French Alps in which four pre-school children and two adults were injured, the Elysee Palace said, three of them in critical condition.

“Following yesterday’s attack, the President of the Republic and his wife will today visit the victims, their families and all those who helped and supported them in Annecy,” the palace said, Friday.

The affected children — one 22 months old, two two and one three years old — are being treated in hospitals in the French Alps and across the Swiss border in Geneva. One of the two wounded infants was British and the other Dutch.

Government spokesman Olivier Ferrand said on Friday that two children were still in critical condition. “According to the latest information I have, two children are still in a life-threatening condition,” he told France Info radio.

Haute-Savoie regional authorities said one adult victim was seriously injured in the attack, which took place at a playground near Lake Annecy. BFM TV said the adult victims were men between the ages of 70 and 78.

‘Unbelievable’: Eyewitness describes seeing man stabbed with French knife – video

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 Abd al-Masih H., who had refugee status in Sweden, due to his “disturbed” condition, French media reported.

Annecy prosecutor Line Bonnet Mathis said there was no clear terrorist motive and other officials told reporters the suspect was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack, around 9.45am local time (0845GMT). Thursday.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the alleged attacker, who was reported to be 31, was not known by any intelligence service and had no history of psychological problems. She said he was homeless and a lonely person.

Authorities said the suspect previously lived for 10 years in Sweden and was recently divorced. He also requested asylum in Switzerland, Italy and France, with the French application rejected last Sunday due to his refugee status in Sweden.

Prosecutors said he entered France legally in November 2022 and suffered a “very minor” injury during his arrest.

Police sources told Le Monde newspaper that the man 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 phrases “In the name of Jesus Christ” in English before the attack.

French media reported that the alleged attacker’s mental health was of concern. BFM TV said an investigation had been opened into attempted murder, but police had not yet been able to question him.

The station quoted unnamed sources as saying that the suspect had been “incoherent” since his arrest and rolled on the ground several times. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said he would be examined by a psychiatrist later on Friday.

If the man’s condition is deemed incompatible with his questioning and continued detention, further examinations will be carried out and he will likely eventually be transferred to a psychiatric hospital, the experts told BFM.

The attack shocked France. Describing it as “an act of sheer cowardice,” Macron tweeted on Thursday: “Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and rescue workers.” Bourne expressed “all the support and solidarity of the nation”.

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