France stabbing – latest: Annecy locals attend mass as Mayor says injured children are ‘stable’

The student who attempted to stop a knifeman’s attack on children at a playpark in France - earning him the nickname “backpack hero” - has recalled how the incident unfolded.

Four children – aged between 22 months and three years old – were badly injured in Thursday’s attack at a lakeside park in the alpine city of Annecy.

Two adults were also injured.

A man named only as Henri, who is a 24-year-old philosophy student, came face-to-face with the attacker while making a months-long walking pilgrimage of France’s cathedrals.

“I’ll be honest my brain completely switched off, it was impossible to leave defenceless human beings being attacked like this by someone,” he said of his actions.

“He tried to attack me as well. At some point, our eyes locked and I could feel he wasn’t someone in a normal state.”

A British girl who was one of four children stabbed in a knife attack in the French Alps while on holiday has been visited by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The knifeman attacked the group of children – aged between 22 months and three years – and two adults at a lakeside park in Annecy on Thursday.

French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the suspect, a 31-year-old Syrian man, had tried to claim asylum in France but his bid was refused on Sunday because he had previously been granted asylum in Sweden 10 years ago.

The British girl, named locally as Ettie, is three years old and was taken to hospital in Grenoble, a city around an hour-and-a-half away from Annecy by car.

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Rishi Sunak described the stabbing attack in the French Alpine town of Annecy as “unfathomable”, adding that his thoughts were with all those affected.

Four toddlers, including a British child, and two adults were stabbed in a knife attack in Pasquier Park on Thursday 8 June.

The French government said the suspected assailant was a Syrian refugee.

“All our thoughts are with those affected by this unfathomable attack - including a British child,” Mr Sunak said, during a press conference alongside Joe Biden at the White House.

“We stand ready to offer any assistance that we can.

A British three-year-old girl who was stabbed in a horrific playground attack in France was awake and watching television on Friday Emmanuel Macron said – as he also praised the heroism of a young Catholic pilgrim who fended off the knifeman with a backpack.

The French president said he had heard “positive” news about the four children – aged between 22 months and three years old – injured in the attack in a lakeside park in Annecy. Two men in their 70s were also injured.

Mr Macron and his wife Brigitte, visited three of the children and their families in hospital in Grenoble about 90 minutes from Annecy. The British girl who received surgery, named as Ettie, had “woken up” and was “watching TV,” said President Macron. “[the attack] is just a bad memory already”. According to AFP, he added: “Doctors are optimistic” suggesting that “everything is going the right way”.

Andy Gregory and Chris Stevenson report:

A British girl who was one of four children stabbed in a knife attack in the French Alps was on holiday in the area.

The knifeman attacked the group of children – aged between 22 months and three years – and two adults at a lakeside park in Annecy on Thursday.

French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said the suspect, a 31-year-old Syrian man, had tried to claim asylum in France but it was refused on Sunday because he had previously been granted asylum in Sweden 10 years ago.

The British girl is three years old and was taken to hospital in Grenoble, a city around an hour-and-a-half from Annecy by car.

Ted Hennessey has the full story:

A young pilgrim who attempted to stop the knifeman who launched an “unspeakable” attack on children at a playpark in France is being hailed across the country as “the backpack hero”.

Two adults and four children – between 22 months and three years old – were badly injured in Thursday’s attack at a lakeside park in the alpine city of Annecy, which has drawn international shock and condemnation.

As two of the children remained in a critical condition and a man – reportedly stabbed six times and struck by a police bullet – contended with life-threatening injuries on Friday morning, president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte travelled to hospital in Grenoble to meet them and their families.

Andy Gregory reports:

A picturesque French town has been left reeling after four children were stabbed in a playground horror attack.

Two adults were also injured in the attack in Annecy in the French Alps on Thursday morning. All of the youngsters - who were aged between 22 months and three - were transferred to hospitals in the French Alps and across the Swiss border in Geneva.

Oliver Pritchard-Jones reports:

The knife attack on toddlers in a French Alpine town, suspected to have been carried out by a Syrian refugee, has thrown a spotlight on President Emmanuel Macron’s struggles to find support for a new immigration bill in a fragmented parliament.

France was still in shock a day after four children - aged between 22 and 36 months - and two pensioners were stabbed in the tranquil lakeside town of Annecy.

The suspect in police custody is a 31-year-old Syrian national who was granted refugee status in Sweden 10 years ago and thanks to European free movement rules was legally in France where he had filed another asylum request.

French authorities rejected that request last week.

The case has exposed the tensions between Europe’s free movement rights and the pressure governments in countries like France, Germany and Italy are feeling from voters to toughen immigration laws as societies shift rightwards politically.

Macron’s government this year drafted new legislation that would have accelerated the expulsions of illegal migrants and fast-tracked applications of migrants working in parts of the economy with labour shortages.

But it was forced back to the drawing board after failing to strike a deal with the centre-right lawmakers it depends on for a working majority in parliament.

“We are swamped by asylum requests,” Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right who pushed Macron hard in last year’s presidential run-off vote, told Europe 1 radio.

Le Pen alleged that the suspect’s asylum claim should have been fast-tracked since he already had refugee status in another EU country.

Asylum expert Philippe Fontana urged caution, citing unknowns around the suspect’s circumstances.

“But this puts the spotlight on the asylum application process in France,” he added.

Watch as people lay flowers in tribute after four children and two adults were stabbed and injured in a knife attack in the French Alps.

The incident happened on Thursday 8 June at a lakeside park in Anney.

Police say they have arrested a suspect, a 31-year-old Syrian and according to reports, the alleged knifeman had been denied asylum in France just days before the attack.

A British child is among the victims injured in the attack, foreign secretary James Cleverly has confirmed.

“Our thoughts are with the victims and the families and we stand ready to support the French authorities in whichever way we can,” he said on Thursday.

Oliver Browning has more: