Four children stabbed in French playground rampage

Two children and an adult have life-threatening injuries after the terrifying, random attack at a playground in the French Alps. Distressing content.

Six people have been stabbed, including four children, during a random attack at a playground in the French Alps.

Police say a Syrian asylum seeker identified as Abdalmash H stabbed his victims at a play park in Annecy, about 30km south of Geneva, on Thursday morning.

Two of the children and an adult sustained life-threatening injuries.

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The victims age in range from 22 months to three years.

One of the children is believed to a British girl and is receiving treatment at Grenoble hospital. Another victim is Dutch.

Officials have said they were not aware of a “terrorist motivation,” at the moment.

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Four children were injured after being stabbed by a man (left) in a French Park. Picture: AFPTV / AFP

"He wanted to hurt as many people as he could"

The suspect, who is 31, shouted “in the name of Jesus Christ” in English before stabbing young children.

Footage of the attack shows the refugee running around the playground before stabbing a toddler in its pram as its mother screamed.

An eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said: “The man was shouting in English, and caused absolute panic when he started attacking the little ones.

“He wanted to hurt as many people as he could. He caused carnage. The young children were just easy targets.”

Another eyewitness described how they saw a man attacking younger children who were playing in the playground.

The suspect was chased around the park by locals before being shot by police.

He is now in custody.

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Police officers work inside a cordoned-off area of the children’s playground. Picture: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA/AAP

Stabbing an "act of absolute cowardice"

President Emmanuel Macron called the attack “an act of absolute cowardice”.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted that the culprit “has been arrested thanks to the rapid reaction of security”.

The knifeman was identified by the French Interior Ministry as Abdalmash H.

“He arrived in France in 2022, and had refugee status,” said a spokesman.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the suspect had “no criminal or psychiatric record” and indeed had children of a similar age to the ones he attacked.

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French forensic police officers work at the scene in Annecy. Picture: Olivier Chassignole/AFP

"This attack on children is the height of abomination"

Annecy prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said there “doesn’t seem to be any kind of terrorist motivation”.

Meanwhile, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez tweeted: “Horror again. This attack on children is the height of the abomination.

“I extend my full support to the victims and their families. Congratulations to our police officers for the courage they showed in arresting the assailant.”

Police have said the suspect was a Syrian refugee who had asylum in Sweden who recently arrived in France despite his family, including a three year old child, being in the Scandinavian country.

Last year he had applied for asylum in France, stating he was a Syrian Christian.

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Three children were taken to hospital in a critical condition. Picture: Gregory Yetchmeniza/EPA/AAP

"He was there every morning"

France TV station BFM TV said it had spoken with the suspect’s wife who said he had not shown a propensity to violence.

“He does not call me for four months. (Our relationship) stopped because we lived in Sweden and he did not want to live in Sweden anymore.”

“He spoke English. In the beginning, we all thought it was staged, but with the cries of people, we realise that it‘s reality, the guy was confused.”

Meanwhile another person told the platform they had seen the man wandering around the park before.

“He was there every morning, from morning to night and everyone had spotted him a little because he was all alone,” they said.

“We said ‘who was he, he’s weird’, but on the other hand, he said hello to us.”

Originally published as Four children stabbed in French playground rampage