Syrian refugee stabs a child in its pram in front of screaming mother as four kids knifed

Horrific footage shows a Syrian refugee repeatedly stabbing a toddler in its pram in front of his screaming mother in a frenzied attack at a French playground that saw four children knifed.

The attacker, identified as Abdalmash H, 32, launched his ‘abominable’ rampage in a lakeside park in Annecy, an alpine town in southeastern France, at around 9.45am.

Video shows the attacker running into the small playground and repeatedly stabbing a toddler in his pram while his screaming mother tries to protect him from the attack.

Further dramatic footage shows the attacker, a Syrian refugee who arrived in France last year, later being pinned to the ground by armed police officers at the park after being chased away from the playground by locals. 

Horrified witnesses say mothers ran past them screaming ‘run, run’ in the aftermath of the frenzied attack, which President Emmanuel Macron has condemned as ‘absolute cowardice’.

Four children aged around three – reportedly including a three-year-old British girl – and an adult were seriously injured in the attack. Two of the young victims and the adult are now in a life-threatening condition at a nearby hospital. 

Witnesses said the knifeman had begun attacking the preschool children while they were playing at a small playground in a scene of utter ‘carnage’. They said he had launched his onslaught on the toddlers because they were ‘easy targets’.

Witnesses said they heard the man shouting before he began attacking the small children in the playground. One of the injured children was in a stroller.

Horrific video of the attack shows Abdalmash H carrying a knife and running towards a screaming mother whose little boy is in a stroller before a local man hits the attacker with his rucksack and chases him away. 

But the knifeman jumps into the playground again and runs towards the mother and her toddler. The woman screams and tries to protect her son with her body but Abdalmash quickly moves around her and stabs the little boy twice.

The toddler can be seen screaming in pain as the mother and terrified parents scream for help as the attacker runs away again.

But the carnage continues. Abdalmash H runs back towards the child in the pram and stabs him again in front of his horrified mother before he is chased away by a local man who throws his bag at him.

Further video taken minutes after the stabbing shows the attacker being chased by locals across the park. Parents can be heard in the background screaming for help for their injured children.

Soon afterwards, armed police arrived at the scene and were able to subdue the knifeman before he was arrested for the attack that left four children and an adult seriously injured. 

Police sources told C-News that a two-year-old boy, his older sister, a three-year-old girl believed to be British, and a 22-month-old boy from Germany were injured in the attack. A 70-year-old man, who was sitting on a bench when the knifeman launched his attack, was reportedly stabbed in the neck and rushed to hospital.  

Describing the attack, a witness who gave his name as Ferdinand told BFM TV: ‘He jumped (in the playground), started shouting and then went towards the strollers, repeatedly hitting the little ones with a knife.

‘Mothers were crying, everybody was running,’ said George, another witness and owner of a nearby restaurant.

Another witness, who asked not to be named, said: ‘The man was shouting in English, and caused absolute panic when he started attacking the little ones. 

‘He wanted to hurt as many people as he could. He caused carnage. The young children were just easy targets.’

Former Liverpool footballer Anthony Le Tallec said he saw a group of people running at him before a mother shouted at him: ‘Run, run, there is someone who is stabbing everyone all along the lake. They are stabbing children, run run!’  

He continued: ‘I was so surprised, I continued and then suddenly the guy appeared in front of me, then I saw the police who were ten metrrs behind him but they hadn’t managed to get him yet. He was so near to me so I got out of the way.’ 

Another witness told Le Dauphine: ‘We saw a person attacking children playing games, small ones, obviously that was his target. After people tried to scare him, he walked away and the police intervened. 

‘He spoke English. At the beginning, we all thought it was staged, but with the cries of people, we realised it was reality.’ 

A man told broadcaster BFMTV he saw first aiders working on ‘little bodies, three or four years old, perhaps’.

The Interior Ministry said Abdalmash H is a Syrian national with legal refugee status in France after arriving in the country last year. 

He was not known to security agencies and his motives were unclear, an investigative source said.

An investigating source said: ‘The attacker was a Syrian asylum seeker who has spent a lot of time in Annecy.

‘He was in a park square when he started the attack at about 9.45 in the morning. He targeted children indiscriminately, and also wounded an adult.’

An investigating source said Abdalmash H is himself a married father of a three-year-old, and a devout Christian.

‘He married a Swedish woman, and they have a child together,’ said an investigating source. ‘He entered France legally from Sweden at the end of last year.’

The source said Abdalmasih H. was a ‘declared and devout Christian’ who carried a prayer book and a cross at the time of his arrest.

Verified pictures posted on social media showed Abdalmasih H. approaching the children wearing shorts, sunglasses, and a scarf around his head before he launched his attack. 

The knifeman was arrested soon afterwards following a brief struggle. Video shows three two armed police officers and a man pinning the attacker down on the grass before he was taken away. 

Abdalmasih H. was himself seriously wounded by police, and was rushed to hospital, along with his five victims. 

France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted: ‘Several people including children were injured by an individual armed with a knife in a square in Annecy. 

‘The individual was arrested thanks to the very rapid intervention of the police.’

Mr Darmanin confirmed that five people were wounded, including four young children, two of whom are in intensive care. 

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: ‘Attack of absolute cowardice this morning in a park in Annecy. Children and an adult are between life and death. 

‘The Nation is in shock. Our thoughts are with them as well as their families and the emergency services that mobilised.’ 

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is now travelling to the scene of the attack, according to her aide.

Local politician Antoine Armand said in a tweet that children were targeted in a playground in an ‘abominable’ attack.

He wrote: ‘We still know very little but all my support for the victims, relatives, law enforcement and rescue.’

And François Astorg, the Mayor of Annecy, said: ‘Appalling attack this morning on the Paquier park in Annecy. All my thoughts to the victims and families.’ 

Politicians inside the National Assembly in Paris interrupted a debate to hold a minute of silence for the victims of the knife attack this morning. 

The assembly president, Yaël Braun-Pivet, said: ‘There are some very young children who are in critical condition and I invite you to respect a minute of silence for them, for their families, and so that, we hope, the consequences of this very grave attack do not lead to the nation grieving.’

France has been shocked by a number of violent incidents over the past few months, including the fatal stabbing last month of a nurse in the northern town of Reims. Also last month, a drunk driver accidentally killed three policemen.

Macron has denounced what he calls a “de-civilisation process” in the country, while opposition lawmakers say his government has been too lax on law and order.

“Nothing more abominable than to attack children,” National Assembly speaker Yael Braun-Pivet said on Twitter. Parliament observed a minute of silence to mark the incident.