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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Eleanor Noyce and Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

France stabbing – latest: Annecy locals attend mass as Mayor says injured children are ‘stable’

AFP via Getty Images

Flowers and toys laid in tribute at Annecy park after knifeman stabbed children and adults

Locals have attended a mass for the victims of an “unfathomable” knife attack at a lakeside playpark in southeastern France.

Father Didier Milani and Bishop Yves Le Saux were pictured hosting the service in Annecy on Friday, one day after the incident in which four young children and two pensioners were injured, to a church packed full of people praying for the victims.

On Friday afternoon the Mayor of Annecy said he was “confident” about the condition of the children involved in the attack.

Francois Astorg told reporters close to the scene: “The children are stable right now, the adults are much better.”

A suspect has been arrested and identified as a 31-year-old Syrian refugee, who authorities say had been refused asylum in France days earlier, as he had been granted refugee status in Sweden earlier this year.

Well-wishers continued to visit the park on Friday morning to lay flowers and other tributes for those injured in the attack. The children are between 22 months and three years old.

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