Paris knife attack leaves 7 wounded

Seven people, including two British tourists, were wounded on Sunday (Sept 9) in Paris after they were attacked by a man armed with a knife and an iron bar, according to police and other sources.

A source close to the inquiry said the suspect has been arrested and is believed to be an Afghan national. 

“Nothing at this stage shows signs of a terrorist nature in these assaults,” the sources said, adding that the attacker had targeted “strangers in the street”. 

Of the seven wounded, four are in a critical condition, police said. 

The incident took place just after 11pm on the banks of a canal in the north-east of the capital. A security guard at one of two cinemas on either side of the Canal de l’Ourcq said he saw a man who had already assaulted people being chased by two men who tried to stop him.

“He had an iron bar in his hand, which he threw at the men chasing him, then he took out a knife,” he told AFP. 

Another eyewitness, 28-year-old Youssef Najah, said he was walking along the canal near a bowling green when he saw a man running and holding a knife about 25 to 30cm long. 

“There were around 20 people chasing him. They started throwing Petanque balls at him,” Najah said, referring to the sport popular in France also known as boules. “Around four or five balls hit him in the head, but they weren’t able to stop him,” he added. 

According to the same witness, the attacker then dived into an alleyway and “tried to hide behind two British tourists. We said to them: ‘Watch out, he has a knife.' But they didn’t react”. The pair were then attacked, he said.