PARIS: At least 10 people were injured yesterday, two seriously, when the driver of a van ploughed into a Christmas market in the western French city of Nantes before stabbing himself, a source close to the investigation said.
The source said the driver, who was born in 1970, stabbed himself “at least nine times”, causing himself serious injuries.
The motives for the attack were unclear but did not appear to be driven by religious extremism.
The attack in central Nantes took place at around 7 pm.
The driver charged at a chalet serving hot wine in front of which several people were gathered, a witness said.
In the eastern town of Dijon, a prosecutor said a Frenchman who ploughed into pedestrians on Sunday shouting “Allahu Akbar” had been to psychiatric hospital 157 times and had no known links to jihadist groups, easing concerns the attack was inspired by Islamic extremism.
The incident had left 13 people hurt.
The driver targeted groups of passers-by at five different locations in Dijon in a rampage that lasted around half an hour, before being arrested.
Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who visited the town yesterday, said 13 people were injured though none of the victims are critical.
Local prosecutor Marie-Christine Tarrare told reporters that the driver, 40, had a “long-lasting and severe psychological disorder” and had visited psychiatric hospital 157 times.
She said he told police that he ploughed into people due to a sudden “outburst of empathy for the children of Chechnya” and had shouted “Allahu Akbar” to give him courage.
“He was not guided by religion but because he felt that politically he had to react,” she said.
AFP
