A man driving a car ploughed into a group of people outside Caen railway station in Normandy, killing at least two people.
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An earlier toll reported one person dead and ten injured.
Seven people are in critical condition and three others were slightly injured, according to the prefect of Calvados, David Claviere. He said the car “deliberately drove into pedestrians in the street opposite the station.”
According to French newspaper Le Figaro, the vehicle, a black German car, is said to have hit people who were waiting near a tram stop.
The deputy public prosecutor said the incident, which happened at around 10.15 pm, does not appear to have a terrorist motive. “For the time being, we are not considering a terrorist motive, but the investigation is only just beginning,” he said.
The attack is reported to have taken place following an altercation.
The suspect is a 26-year-old man born in Russia. He was not known to the intelligence services, but was known to the police “only for traffic offences,” the prefect said.
He fled the scene before being arrested later in Ouistreham, around 20 kilometres away.
According to Bruno Coutanceau, a senior security official in Caen, all the victims are believed to be men aged between 17 and 40. Most are thought to be foreign nationals.
The area has been sealed off by the authorities. An investigation has been launched into murder and aggravated intentional assault.
The mayor of Caen, Aristide Olivier, speaking to French radio station ICI Normandie, described the incident as an “absolute tragedy”, while praising “the extremely rapid response of the emergency and security services tonight”.
Additional sources • AFP