French town pays tribute to survivors of playground knife attack
Residents of the French town of Annecy gathered on Sunday to mourn the six victims of Thursday’s knife attack at a playground and those who rushed to stop it.
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Thousands were expected to gather in the park around noon on Sunday attack was held.
“Annecy has experienced a tragedy that has struck our town, country and the whole world,” said the mayor of the city, François Astorgue, adding that four injured children and two adults came from France, Portugal, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. said.
He also paid tribute to those who confronted the attacker before police arrested him.
Among them were two city officials who tried to stop the attackers with shovels, a youth renting a paddle boat and a math teacher who tried to intervene, and a tourist who chased the attackers. It is included. A nursery teacher also rushed to the scene and rescued two injured children.
The attack shocked the normally peaceful lakeside town. He left flowers, stuffed animals and heart-shaped balloons at the scene where hundreds of people were stabbed.
the victim escaped
On Friday, the French president Emmanuel Macron Among them was a 24-year-old French tourist who encountered the attackers and used his backpack as a shield to fend off the attacks, as well as civilians hailed as heroes.
This man, who was in Annecy on a Catholic pilgrimage, is called “”.backpack hero”.
On Saturday, prosecutor Rein Bonnet-Matisse paid tribute to those “who by their actions could save lives.” She also acknowledged her ambulance service work.
Bonnet-Matisse also said the victims of the attack were no longer in a life-threatening condition.
Children aged 22 months to 3 years are still in the hospital, and one adult was seriously injured but is out of danger.
Another adult suffered minor injuries and has already been discharged from the hospital.
motive unknown
The suspect, a Syrian man in his early 30s, has been detained on charges of attempted murder and armed resistance.
He had previously refused to discuss the attack with investigators, prosecutors said.
The suspect, recently divorced from a Swedish citizen, had lived in Sweden for 10 years and was granted refugee status in April, a security source and his ex-wife told Agence France-Presse.
He left the country because he could not obtain Swedish citizenship, she added.
Authorities said he had also sought asylum in Switzerland, Italy and France. It turned out last Sunday that his application in France had been rejected because he already had permanent residency in Sweden.
politicization
The incident raised tensions in the country. France On the immigration issue, right-wing politicians have insisted the suspect is of foreign origin.
talk France 3 Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on television on Sunday that her government was already working on a proposal to reform France’s immigration system, but warned against using the attack as a basis for policy decisions.
Far-right activists tried to rally Since the attacks, rallies have also been held in Annecy, but failed to gather more than a few dozen people, with Astorgues warning that “there is no room for hate.”
(AFP communication)
https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20230611-annecy-attack-france-town-pays-tribute-to-people-who-chased-off-playground-attacker French town pays tribute to survivors of playground knife attack
