(AFP) — Three people were injured Saturday in a knife attack at Paris’s Gare de Lyon railway station, a major travel hub, police said, adding that a suspect had been arrested.
The detained man, a Malian national, went on a stabbing spree at around 8:00 am (0700 GMT) at the station, which operates domestic trains as well as those heading to Switzerland and Italy.
One person suffered serious injuries to the abdomen while two others were lightly wounded, police said.
“The suspect did not cry out (any religious slogans) during his attack,” a police source said. “He presented the police an Italian driving licence”, which gave his date of birth as January 1, 1992.
Passers-by overpowered the man before railway police arrived on the scene, the police source said.
“A thank you to those who overpowered the man who carried out this unbearable act,” said Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on X, formerly Twitter.
The attackers’ motives remained unclear.
French forensic experts and police work after a knife attack at Paris’s Gare de Lyon railway station, a major travel hub on February 3, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP) (Photo by THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The Paris prosecutor’s office launched an inquiry into the attack, while the national anti-terrorist prosecutor said it was observing proceedings at this stage.
The assault took place less than six months before Paris hosts the 2024 Olympics and and an expected 15 million visitors.
Each year more than 100 million passengers go through the Gare de Lyon, France’s biggest mainline hub.
The area between halls one and three were temporarily inaccessible, rail operator SNCF said on X, formerly Twitter.
Services to the Paris region were delayed, the SNCF said, referring only to “an act of criminal intent”.