British toddler among six stabbed in French playground horror

A British girl on holiday with her family is among four toddlers and two adults stabbed during a playground attack by a knife-welding man in the picturesque town of Annecy in the French Alps – leaving the young children severely injured.

Witnesses described scenes of panic as screaming mothers sought to protect their children as the assailant roamed the playground in a lakeside park. At least one child was stabbed in a pushchair with the attacker, pushing aside a woman who tried to fend him off. It was an act of savage violence France's President Emmanuel Macron called an "act of absolute cowardice" and his prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, labelled "odious and unspeakable."

The children – aged between 22 months and three years old – were all transferred to local hospitals, with the mayor of Annecy, Francois Astorg saying later that a number of the children had come out of the operating room having undergone surgery. He said that "their condition seems stable".

Annecy prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said the young British girl was a tourist, was another boy who was also a tourist. Bonnet-Mathis said he was Dutch – but German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suggested he was German. James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, confirmed that a British child was among the young victims. The prosecutor said the youngest of the victims is 22 months old, two are aged two and the oldest is three.

Video showed the assailant, who wore a blue-chequered headscarf and sunglasses, slashing at his victims, The man appeared to shout "on name of Jesus Christ" as he waved his knife in the air, while people nearby could be heard screaming: "Police! Police!". One bystander tried to stop him by throwing his backpack at him. He was eventually subdued by police.

"He jumped (in the playground), started shouting and then went towards the strollers, repeatedly hitting the little ones with a knife," a witness who gave his name as Ferdinand told BFM TV. "He clearly targeted the babies," he said.

"Mothers were crying, everybody was running," said George, owner of a nearby restaurant.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the suspected attacker was a 31-year old Syrian national who was granted asylum in Sweden 10 years and was carrying Swedish identity documents and a Swedish driving licence. He had entered France legally, she said, and applied for asylum, a claim overridden by the fact that Sweden had granted that status in April. On his claim he has said he was a "Syrian Christian". Officers found a cross on him during the arrest.

Officials said in coming to France the suspect had left behind a wife and a three-year-old daughter in Sweden. A woman identified as his ex-wife told BFM TV that her former partner was a Christian.

"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," she said, adding that he had not previously shown a violent streak.

The attack began at about 9.45am local time at the playground near Annecy’s famous lake, an area that locals and tourists alike prize for its tranquility stunning views. The man had walked past adults in the park to head for the play area. Within minutes, police were pursuing him. He then lunged at an elderly man. Police fired shots before detaining the suspect, who was unharmed. One of the adults was hurt both with the attacker's knife and later by a shot fired by police as they were making the arrest, Ms Bonnet-Mathis said.

Former Liverpool FC player, Anthony Le Tallec, was jogging around the pristine waters of Lake Annecy and witnessed the attack

"There's someone stabbing everyone along the lakeshore. He's knifed children," Le Tallec, quoted a mother as telling him in a video account of what he saw that he posted on Instagram.

Confused, Le Tallec said he kept jogging through the park in the town of Annecy but soon saw a man heading his way with police officers in pursuit but struggling to catch up.

"I see that he's heading straight for a group of elderly men and women. He attacks one grandpa, stabs him once, the cops can't catch him, so I tell the cops, 'Shoot him'," Le Tallec continued. "Then they start shooting, they shoot at the person, right in front of me."

The attacker did not appear to have a "terrorist motive", Ms Bonnet-Mathis told reporters and that an attempted murder investigation was ongoing. He "has no criminal record, is not known to any intelligence service, has no psychiatric history and has been identified," said Prime Minister Borne. The assailant was carrying "the only weapon in our possession [which is] a knife that we have," added Ms Bonnet-Mathis.

Ms Borne added that the man appeared to be “homeless” and “isolated".

Some politicians on the right and far right in France seized on the identity of the suspect to call for more scrutiny of France’s immigration and asylum policy

Eleanor Vincent, an American author vacationing in Annecy, told The Associated Press that crowds stood in "absolute silence," dumbfounded as the tragedy unfolded, she said. "As a parent who has lost a child, I know what these parents are experiencing. It's a horror beyond belief," Ms Vincent added.

Speaking to BBC News, Deputy Mayor of Annecy, Chantale Farmer, said schools were put on "lockdown" shortly after the attack to protect the children in the area. More young children who had witnessed the attack are being given psychological support, as well as teenagers, parents, childminders and park workers.

Mr Cleverly, the foreign secretary, speaking at an OECD ministerial council press conference in France hours after the attack, said: "We have already deployed British consular officials who are travelling to the area to make themselves available to support the family.

"And of course we stand in strong solidarity with the people of France at this terrible time."

Rishi Sunak, said: "My thoughts are with all of those affected by the shocking attack in Annecy".

Calling it a "truly cowardly act", the prime minister said: "The UK and France have always stood together against acts of violence, and we do so again."

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report