From the French edition of The Local, English language news from the continent.
Several people were injured on Wednesday after a motorist “ran over pedestrians and cyclists with his car”, the French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez wrote on social media.
“Two victims are in critical condition, and three other people were injured. The suspect has been arrested by the police. An investigation is underway. At the request of the Prime Minister, I am going to the scene,” Nuñez wrote.
According to reports by the French press, a total of 10 people were injured.
It is not yet clear what the motorist’s motivation was, but initial reports by the French press said that the driver yelled “Allah Akbar” (“God is greatest”) before ramming the pedestrians.
At this stage, investigators are also considering the possibility that the individual may be suffering from a mental health crisis.
From Le Parisien, courtesy of Google translate which is making my O-level French redundant.
According to the first elements of the investigation, the driver shouted “Allah Akbar”, before driving his vehicle into several people. But the anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office has “not been seized at this stage”, said the public prosecutor of Le Rochelle, Arnaud Laraize, specifying nevertheless that an investigation for attempted murder had been opened.
A few minutes after his act, the man was arrested, without clashes, by the gendarmes while he was trying to set fire to his vehicle. Gas cylinders were found in his car, which only partially caught fire, according to our information. He was immediately taken into custody at the Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron gendarmerie brigade.
