France stabbing: 2 toddlers secure, President Macron hails ‘backpack hero’

By India Today World Desk: Two toddlers stabbed by a knife attacker within the French Alpine city of Annecy had been secure on Friday (native time) at the same time as folks hailed the person dubbed a “backpack hero”, for attempting to cease the suspect from attacking by utilizing his backpack as a protect.

Four kids — aged between 22 and 36 months — and two pensioners had been wounded throughout the assault on Thursday. The attacker, a 31-year-old Syrian man with refugee standing in Sweden, is presently in custody.

Videos which circulated on social media confirmed 24-year-old Henri d’Anselme chasing the suspect out of a lakeside park as mother and father screamed and utilizing his bag to disarm the knife-wielding attacker earlier than pursuing him, The Guardian reported.

Speaking about his actions, he mentioned he acted on intuition to forestall additional bloodshed. “I didn’t even think about it. The brain turned off,” he informed French tv.

“It was impossible to let people be attacked by this person who seemed to be a furious madman. He tried at one point to attack me, our eyes met and I realised it was someone not in any normal state, there was something very bad in him that had to be stopped,” he mentioned.

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A religious Christian, Henri, who reportedly belongs to a big Catholic household from west Paris, had been on a year-long strolling tour of French cathedrals for the previous 9 months. He made a cease at Annecy and took footage of Lake Annecy on Thursday morning.

Henri then proceeded to the park, full of kids and their mother and father basking within the morning solar. He was documenting his journey on his Instagram account when the attacker instantly entered the scene and began stabbing folks.

As screams of terror reverberated within the park, Henri noticed the person with a big knife within the playground. Risking his life, he then chased the attacker out of the youngsters’s space, making an attempt to disarm him by hitting his backpack and utilizing it to defend himself.

“I tried to run with my 20 kg rucksack on my back, but then realised he was getting away so I let it go and continued to follow him with a small backpack. It seems mad, but you do what you can,” he was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

The 24-year-old mentioned regardless of folks calling him a “backpack hero”, he mentioned he occurred to be on the spot and any French citizen would have acted the identical in such a situation.

“I hear lots of people calling me a national hero, but in reality, I acted as any French person would have done. I just happened to be there, perhaps I was meant to be, but anyone would have done what I did. Everyone is capable of doing something similar,” he mentioned.

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TODDLERS STABLE

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the stabbing, calling it a “barbaric act”, and met Henri and hailed him for his actions. He additionally visited an area hospital in Annecy and mentioned he obtained “positive news” concerning the injured who’re recovering.

Macron mentioned a younger British lady had “woken up” after surgical procedure and a Dutch toddler can be reportedly recovering, BBC information reported.

The attacker remains to be in custody as prosecutors are ascertaining the motive of the assault. He is scheduled to bear a psychiatric evaluation.

The suspect is believed to have been residing homeless in Annecy since final autumn after leaving his ex-wife and three-year-old son in Sweden. Recently, his asylum declare was rejected by the French authorities.

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