The attack happened at around 2pm on Sunday by the RER station of La Plaine – Stade de France in the Seine-Saint-Denis département, north of the capital.

A group of around five teenagers aged between 16 and 17 were walking down rue Paul-Lafargue, which runs alongside the station, when they crossed two homeless men who were visibly drunk.

According to Le Parisien, the men thought that one of the teens had given him a “dirty look”. The pair then reportedly beat the teen with an iron bar and stabbed him in the chest.  

The alarm was raised by a nearby bus driver who witnessed the fight.

The teenager died at the scene from his injuries.

On Sunday evening the suspects were still on the run, but police hope that they will be able to identify the attackers thanks to descriptions by witnesses and surveillance cameras by the station.

The département of Seine Saint-Denis is one of France’s poorest. In 2005 it was the scene of the death of two youths, which sparked nationwide riots in the autumn of 2005.

Between October and November that year around 9,000 cars were burned and 3,000 rioters arrested.