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Knife attacker wounds three at major Paris train station

Three people were injured Saturday in a knife attack at Paris's Gare de Lyon railway station, a major travel hub, police said, adding that a suspect with psychiatric problems had been arrested.

Knife attacker wounds three at major Paris train station
French forensic and judicial police work after a knife attack at Paris's Gare de Lyon railway station. Photo: Thomas SAMSON/AFP.

Prosecutors later said they had ended their questioning of the suspect, a Malian national, due to his “incompatible” mental state and placed him in police custody for psychiatric care.

The man went on a stabbing spree at 7:35 am (06:35 GMT) at the station, which operates domestic trains as well as those heading to Switzerland and Italy.

One person suffered life-threatening injuries to the abdomen while two others were lightly wounded, Paris police prefect Laurent Nunez told reporters. A fourth person went into shock after witnessing the assaults.

The stabbing took place less than six months before Paris hosts the 2024 Olympics and an expected 15 million visitors.

Paris prosecutors said the suspect might have used a knife and a hammer that were under analysis.

“The suspect did not cry out (any religious slogans) during his attack,” a police source said. “He presented the police an Italian driving licence”, which gave his date of birth as January 1, 1992.

His Italian papers were in order, showing he had lived legally in the country since 2016 and had no criminal record. The suspect volunteered to police that he suffered from “psychiatric problems” and he was carrying medicine, said Nunez.

“We will see if terrorism can be ruled out, after checks underway on his telephone records, life in Italy and comments to investigators,” Nunez added.

Passers-by overpowered the man before railway police arrived on the scene, the police source said.

“A thank you to those who overpowered the man who carried out this unbearable act,” said Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on X, formerly Twitter.

The attackers’ motives remained unclear.

The Paris prosecutor’s office launched an inquiry into the attack, while the national anti-terrorist prosecutor said it was observing proceedings at this stage.

The assault took place less than six months before Paris hosts the 2024 Olympics and and an expected 15 million visitors.

Each year more than 100 million passengers go through the Gare de Lyon, France’s biggest mainline hub.

The area between halls one and three were temporarily inaccessible, rail operator SNCF said on X, formerly Twitter. Services to the Paris region were delayed, the SNCF said, referring only to “an act of criminal intent.”

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CRIME

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The head of France's top cinema institution Dominique Boutonnat denied sexually assaulting his godson as he went on trial Friday in a case that has led to calls for him to step down.

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The trial comes as French cinema reels from a renewed #MeToo reckoning that has seen several big names, including acting legend Gerard Depardieu, accused of sexual abuse.

READ ALSO: French actor Gérard Depardieu to be tried for sexual assault in October

Activists have denounced Boutonnat’s continued leadership of the National Centre of Cinema (CNC), whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry.

His godson accuses him of trying to masturbate him during a holiday in Greece in 2020 when he was 19.

“I looked at him to find my godfather and that’s when I saw someone completely different… It was someone using me to masturbate,” the godson, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court.

Boutonnat responded in court that it was his godson who had initiated the situation and kissed him.

“I feel bad about leaving an ambiguous situation, but to say there was a sexual assault is false,” he told the court.

He was placed under investigation in February 2021 but still reappointed by the government as head of the CNC in July 2022.

Training to prevent abuse has in recent months become obligatory for films seeking public funding via the CNC.

The CNC told AFP that the case against Boutonnat came from “the private sphere” and had no relation to its activities.

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