7 hurt in Paris knife attack, one detained

THE INJURED INCLUDE EGYPTIAN AND BRITISH TOURISTS AND A POLICE INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN LAUNCHED FOR ATTEMPTED MURDER, OFFICIALS SAID,

PARIS: A man wielding a knife and an iron bar injured seven people, including three tourists, in Paris, in an attack that bystanders tried to stop by throwing petanque balls at the assailant.

Four of the victims were in a critical condition, police said, after the man, believed to be an Afghan national, went on the rampage next to a canal in the northeast of the capital on Sunday evening.

The suspect, believed to be in his thirties, had been overpowered by bystanders and was unconscious when officers arrived on the scene and took him to hospital, police said.

A source close to the inquiry added that though he had targeted foreigners, “nothing at this stage suggests a terrorist attack”.

Interior minister Gerard Collomb in a statement praised those who intervened to stop the attack for their “responsiveness and courage”.

POLICE CHASE SHUTS LYON AIRPORT RUNWAY

France’s Lyon airport temporarily closed its runway on Monday while police chased an intruder who had rammed a car through a terminal building and sped across the tarmac.

The car hurtled across the restricted runway with police cars and a helicopter in pursuit following a chase along a nearby motorway, a police source said.

The driver abandoned his car and tried to flee on foot but was surrounded and arrested, an official at the public prosecutor’s office said. AGENCIES