France, driver hits 10 people shouting 'Allah Akbar', 4 seriously injured
He is a 35-year-old French citizen known for his many transgressions, in particular his habitual consumption of drugs and alcohol
A man deliberately ran over ten people, including pedestrians and a cyclist, with his car on the island of Oléron, west of France. This was reported by Le Parisien. Four people were very seriously injured, the national gendarmerie reported. Two others were slightly injured. The driver was arrested. According to initial information, the man allegedly shouted 'Allah Akbar' (Allah is great), before running over the people. However, the anti-terrorist prosecutor's office 'is not involved at this stage', said Le Rochelle's public prosecutor, Arnaud Laraize, who nevertheless specified that an investigation for attempted murder had been opened.
The events took place around 8.45 this morning, when the man driving his vehicle ran over several people between two villages on the island of Oléron, Dolus-d'Oléron and Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron. A few minutes after his act, he was stopped by police officers as he attempted to set fire to his vehicle. Gas cylinders were found in the car, which, according to Le Parisien, only partially caught fire. The man was immediately arrested at the Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron police station.
He is a 35-year-old French citizen living in La Cotinière, a village on the west coast of Île d'Oléron. "He is known for his numerous transgressions, in particular his habitual consumption of drugs and alcohol," the mayor of Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron, Christophe Sueur, told the newspaper. But he was not known to France's intelligence services. The interior minister confirmed the opening of an investigation.
According to the first results of the investigation, the man who ran over ten people on the island of Oléron, on the Atlantic coast of France, was subjected to an alcohol test, which came back negative. This was revealed to Le Parisien by a source close to the case. The injured are aged between 22 and 67. They come from Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron and Dolus-d'Oléron.
A co-worker of Rassemblement National deputy Pascal Markowsky is among those injured, according to parliamentary colleagues Edwige Diaz and Laure Lavalette, quoted by Bfmtv. The collaborator was ''taken to hospital in an absolutely urgent condition'', Lavalette specified in a message posted on X.
