Residents of the French town of Annecy gathered on Sunday to honour the six victims of a knife attack in a playground on Thursday, as well as the people who rushed to stop it.
Thousands of people were expected around midday on Sunday in the park where the attack took place.
"Annecy has experienced a tragedy that touched our town, the country and the whole world," said the city's mayor, Francois Astorg, who noted that the four children and two adults wounded came from France, Portugal, the Netherlands and the UK.
He also paid homage to those who confronted the attacker before police arrested him.
They include two municipal agents who tried to stop the attacker with a shovel, a young man renting out pedal boats and a maths teacher who both tried to step in, and a tourist who chased the attacker. A childminder also rushed in to rescue two injured children.
The attack left the normally peaceful lakeside town in shock. Hundreds of people have laid flowers, soft toys and heart-shaped balloons at the site of the stabbing.
Victims out of danger
On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron met the civilians being hailed as heroes – including a 24-year-old French tourist who came face-to-face with the assailant and used his backpack as a shield as he sought to block the attack.
The man, who was in Annecy on a Catholic pilgrimage, has been dubbed "the backpack hero".
On Saturday, public prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis paid tribute to those who, "by their action, were able to preserve human lives". She also acknowledged the work of the emergency services.
Bonnet-Mathis also said that the victims of the attack were no longer in a life-threatening condition.
The children, aged between 22 months and three years, remain in hospital, as does one adult who was seriously hurt but is out of danger.
Another adult was lightly injured and has been discharged.
Motive unknown
The suspect, a man from Syria in his early 30s, is in custody and has been charged with attempted murder and armed resistance.
He has so far refused to speak to investigators about the attack, the prosecutor said.
Recently divorced from a Swedish national, the suspect had previously lived for ten years in Sweden where he was granted refugee status in April, security sources and his ex-wife told French news agency AFP.
He left the country because he had been unable to get Swedish nationality, she added.
Authorities say he had also sought asylum in Switzerland, Italy and France. It emerged that his application in France was rejected last Sunday as he already had permanent residency in Sweden.
Politicisation
The incident has intensified tensions in France over immigration, with right-wing politicians seizing on the suspect's foreign origins.
Speaking on France 3 TV on Sunday, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne warned against using the attack as a basis for policy decisions, while noting that the government is already working on proposals to reform France's immigration system.
Far-right activists have attempted to rally in Annecy since the attack but failed to gather more than a few dozen people, with mayor Astorg warning that there was "no place for hatred".
(with AFP)
