France stabbing: British child attacked in playground was on holiday

A three-year-old British girl is fighting for her life after a Syrian refugee stabbed four children and two pensioners in the French town of Annecy.

The knifeman, 31, was arrested by officers after the attack at a playground at 9.45am on Thursday that left four children and one adult in critical condition.

A three-year-old British girl, who was on holiday, and a 22-month-old child, believed to be either Dutch or German, were stabbed along with a two-year-old boy and his three-year-old cousin from France.

The man shouted out “in the name of Jesus Christ” twice in English and wielded a four-inch knife in the attack, which included the stabbing of a child in a pram.

Speaking in Washington, Rishi Sunak said that it was an “unfathomable attack”, while Emmanuel Macron called it “an act of absolute cowardice”.

“The UK and France have always stood together against acts of violence, and we do so again today,” the Prime Minister said.

The British child was transferred to Grenoble hospital centre.

In dramatic footage shared on social media, the bearded attacker is seen striding around the playground, brandishing a knife, as mothers with prams scurried to protect their children.

A 78-year-old man was in a life-threatening condition after being stabbed six times and hit by a stray police bullet after officers opened fire on the knifeman.

Another 70-year-old adult was also injured during the apparently random attack in the Le Paquier park on the shores of Lake Annecy in the heart of the town in the French Alps.

More than 200 emergency service personnel were scrambled to the scene, including 160 police officers, before the attacker was detained.

Prosecutors ruled out terrorism as a motive for the attack.

Emmanuel Macron said: “The nation is in shock.”

The suspect, named as Abdelmasih H by the French press, claimed asylum in Sweden a decade ago.

He was reported to be a Syrian Christian, a group that has faced persecution.

Recently estranged from his Swedish wife, he was said to have been sleeping rough in the park for the last two months.

He has a three-year-old daughter, which prosecutors pointed out was the age of his British victim.

The attacker had a claim for asylum in France refused four days ago, according to reports.

However, he was in France legally and was not entitled to asylum because he had refugee status in fellow EU member Sweden.

Elisabeth Borne, the French prime minister, said the suspect was “not known by any intelligence service” and did not have “any history of psychiatric problems”.

“We are shocked by this hateful, indescribable act,” she said, after attending the scene.

Dozens of tributes including flowers, teddy bears, candles and written messages were left at a park in the town.

One of the messages said: “Love Annecy.”