Two children in life-threatening condition after knife attack in southeast France
Two children and an adult are in a life-threatening condition after a knife attack in Annecy in southeast France, police have said.
Four children and an adult were injured in total, officers added.
French President Emmanuel Macron said those badly hurt were "between life and death".
The youngsters are all about three years of age, police said.
The perpetrator was a Syrian man with "legal refugee status", they added.
He was not known to the French security services and his motivation is unclear, a source told the Reuters news agency.
BFMTV showed footage of several policemen overpowering an individual in a park.
"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 BFMTV.
"Mothers were crying, everybody was running," said another witness, George, who owns a nearby restaurant.
France attack: What we know about stabbing in Annecy playground
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said a suspect had been arrested "thanks to the swift intervention of police".
Mr Macron said it was an "absolutely cowardly attack in a park" and the "nation is in shock".
Local politician Antoine Armand tweeted that children were attacked in a playground, describing the attack as "abominable".
There is "nothing more abominable than to attack children", French national assembly speaker Yael Braun-Pivet said.
Francois Astorg, the mayor of Annecy, said he was at the scene and will be speaking at lunchtime.
He urged people to avoid the Paquier area of the French alpine town and said his thoughts were with the victims and their families.
In Paris, politicians interrupted a debate to hold a moment of silence for the victims, BFMTV said.
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