At least 10 people at a Christmas market were injured when a man drove a van into the crowd in the western French city of Nantes on Monday evening.
Police said five of the 10 casualties were seriously injured. The driver, aged 25, attempted to kill himself with a knife, but his suicide attempt failed and he was reported to have been taken to hospital in a serious condition.
It is the third attack in France in as many days, initially attributed to Islamist extremists. However, Nantes police told local reporters the man was “European” and they had established no religious motives for the incident.
On Saturday, a man attacked three police officers with a knife while reportedly shouting “God is great (Allahu Akbar)” before he was shot in Joué-lès Tours near the city of Tours.
On Sunday, a 40-year-old man drove a van into a group of people in Dijon, injuring 11 people. Although the man was reported to have also shouted “Allahu Akbar” he was later found to have been a regular patient at a psychiatric hospital.
Nantes police are investigating how the attacker in a white van gained access to the pedestrian area normally limited to residents. The vehicle was rammed into a wooden market chalet serving mulled wine to seasonal shoppers. The market was immediately evacuated.
The city’s mayor, Johanna Rolland, said she was “extremely upset by this dramatic event” adding that her “first thoughts are with the families of the victims”.
