Toddlers stable after Annecy attack, France lauds ‘backpack hero’

ANNECY, France – Well-wishers laid flowers on Friday at the site in the French mountain town of Annecy where an attacker stabbed four toddlers, as a shocked nation paid tribute to a backpack-wearing student who tried to stop the assault.

Two of the children were in a critical but stable condition in hospital a day after the attack, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said. The other two –

and two pensioners who were also wounded

– had less serious injuries, officials said.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who called the attack an “act of absolute cowardice”, headed to the nearby city of Grenoble on Friday, where three of the four toddlers are being cared for.

Among the children wounded in the attack were a British national and a Dutch national.

A video of the attack, taken by a bystander, showed the assailant jump over a low wall into a children’s playground and repeatedly lunge at a child in a stroller, pushing aside a woman who tried to fend him off.

France hailed the bravery of a young Catholic pilgrim who came face-to-face with the assailant and used his backpack as a shield as he sought to block the attack. French media dubbed the 24-year-old “the backpack hero”.

The management and philosophy student has identified himself only as Henri.

“All I know is I was not there by chance,” he told the CNews television network. “It was unthinkable to do nothing... I followed my instincts and did what I could to protect the weak.”

His Facebook and Instagram accounts were flooded with messages giving thanks for his bravery.

“May God bless you... You did what you could at that moment, you did not give up, you did not run. You are an angel,” Instagram user Mag Capone wrote on his page.

A mass will be held in Annecy Cathedral in tribute to the victims and their families later on Friday, the church authorities said.

Police have arrested a 31-year-old Syrian national who was granted asylum in Sweden 10 years ago, Ms Borne said on Friday.

He had entered France legally, she said, and was carrying Swedish identity documents and a Swedish driving licence.

Sweden and France are both members of the Schengen Area, the world’s largest passport-free zone that allows the unrestricted movement of people between 26 European countries.

The attacker, dressed in black and carrying a blade around 10cm long, could be heard shouting “in the name of Jesus Christ” in the video.

“There’s no obvious terrorist motive,” local prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis told reporters.

She said an investigation for attempted murder had been opened and that the suspect, named as Abdalmasih H, was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He would undergo a psychiatric examination on Friday.

Ms Borne said the suspect was “not known by any intelligence service” and did not have “any history of psychiatric problems”.

He was recently divorced from a Swedish national. “He called me around four months ago. He was living in a church,” his former wife said on condition of anonymity, saying he had left Sweden because he had been unable to get Swedish nationality.

The attacker’s mother, who has lived in the United States for 10 years, said she was “in a state of shock”.

The attack has laid bare the tensions between Europe’s free movement rights and the pressure governments in countries like France and Italy are coming under from voters to toughen immigration laws as societies shift rightwards politically.

One of the two pensioners caught up in the attack said he had been sitting on a park bench when the attacker approached.

“He probably wanted to create one more victim,” said Mr Youssouf, who asked to withhold his family name.

Several witnesses described Le Paquier park, where the attack happened, as a usually tranquil place popular with tourists for its stunning views of Lake Annecy and the mountains.

“It’s a place where babysitters and parents take young children to play. I often see around 15 toddlers there in the morning, and the atmosphere is fantastic,” said Mr Yohan, who works at an ice cream parlour just opposite the park.

France has been shocked by a number of violent incidents over the past few months.

These include the fatal stabbing in May of a nurse in the northern town of Reims. REUTERS, AFP