Two British tourists among seven people injured in Paris knife attack

Ross McGuinness

Two British tourists are among seven injured after they were attacked by an armed man in Paris, it has been reported.

A man armed with a knife and an iron bar is said to have attacked people on the banks of a canal in the north-east of the city just after 11pm on Sunday.

Four people were injured seriously, while Le Parisien said one British tourist has a chest injury while another was stabbed in the head.

A police cordon at the area where seven people were injured in a knife attack in Paris (Picture: AP)
A police cordon at the area where seven people were injured in a knife attack in Paris (Picture: AP)

The paper said the perpetrator stabbed three people near a cinema on the Bassin de la Villette, and men playing pétanque nearby attempted to stop the man, with one throwing a ball at him.

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It is reported a man of Afghan nationality has been arrested and the incident is not being treated as terrorism, police said.

Police secured the area surrounding the attack (Picture: AP)
Police secured the area surrounding the attack (Picture: AP)

The Foreign Office said: “We are urgently investigating this incident and are in close contact with the French authorities.”

Eyewitness Youssef Najah, 28, told the BBC: ”There were around 20 people chasing him. They started throwing pétanque balls at him.

“Around four or five balls hit him in the head, but they weren’t able to stop him.”