The knifeman accused of stabbing a group of children and two adults in a tranquil French alpine town had been denied asylum in the country just a few days before he launched the senseless attack, a minister has claimed. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the suspect had tried to claim asylum in France, but it was refused on Sunday because he had been granted asylum in Sweden 10 years ago.

French police said the man arrested following the attack at a lakeside park in Annecy is a 31-year-old Syrian.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, local media reported one elderly man and six children had been stabbed, with at least two youngsters left in critical condition.

Annecy Mayor Francois Astorg told French media on Thursday evening the children were “stable” and “out of the operating room”.

Among the children involved in the attack was also a British girl, who is reportedly now in hospital in Grenoble, a city approximately an hour and a half away from Annecy.

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