- Attacker described as a 32-year-old man who ‘presented Italian identity papers’
Three people were injured today in a knife attack at one of Paris’s largest train stations.
A man believed to be Italian appeared to have randomly stabbed people at the Gare de Lyon, in the east of the French capital, around 8am.
The attacker has since been arrested and is described as a 32-year-old man born in Mali who “presented Italian identity papers,” an investigating source said.
“One person was seriously injured and two were slightly injured,” a police spokesperson said. ‘Officers arrived on the scene within minutes and the man was arrested.
‘He appeared to have an Italian driver’s license and did not give any motive for his actions. No slogans were shouted.’
Soldiers patrol Gare de Lyon station after a knife attack at Gare de Lyon train station in Paris
French soldiers watch over passengers at Gare de Lyon train station in Paris after a knife attack
French forensic and judicial police visit the crime scene after a knife attack at Gare de Lyon train station in Paris
The most seriously injured person was in a “life-threatening situation and in intensive care,” an emergency services spokesperson said.
Gare de Lyon, France’s second busiest station, which handles around 150 million passengers annually, was packed on Saturday morning.
It was immediately evacuated after the attack and all services were cancelled.
Officers said there were no early clues about the motive of the stabbing, but that it follows a series of bomb, gun and knife attacks carried out by Islamic State and al-Qaeda operatives in France dating back to early 2015.
The country’s deadliest terrorist attack ever occurred in November 2015, when 130 people were killed in Paris.
Suicide bombers who pledged allegiance to ISIS targeted the Stade de France, cafes, restaurants and the Bataclan music venue, killing 90 people.
Earlier this year, two Paris-born gunmen linked to al-Qaida broke into the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 17 people inside and three outside.
A French soldier from the Sentinelle security operation stands guard in a hall after a knife attack at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris
A French soldier from the Sentinelle security operation stands guard in front of a security perimeter after the brutal, barren attack
A French soldier from the Sentinelle security operation stands guard at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris, which was immediately evacuated after the attack
French soldiers secure the area after a man with a knife injured several people at the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris
A general view outside the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris
In July 2016, 86 people were called and more than 400 were injured when a 19-ton truck deliberately drove into crowds on Nice’s boulevard, just 20 miles from Cannes.
The terrorist turned out to be a Tunisian immigrant who was shot dead by police.
In the same month, two ISIS terrorists murdered an 86-year-old Catholic priest during a church service in Normandy.
And in October 2020, three people were stabbed to death by a Tunisian immigrant in the Notre Dame Basilica in Nice.
There have also been regular knife attacks on law and order forces, leading to the deaths of police officers.