A brave woman leaps into the path of a knife maniac to protect a child during a horrific playground rampage yesterday.
The thug was filmed lunging at the toddler’s pram in an attack that left four kids, including a Brit, said to be three, and two adults injured.
Witnesses last night described the horrific moment the knifeman went on the rampage in a busy French playground, indiscriminately stabbing defenceless children.
A British national aged three was one of four youngsters injured in the attack that shattered the morning springtime peace at a popular alpine retreat.
Two children, said to be a French bother and sister aged two and three, were left fighting for life along with a man in his 70s, one of two adults stabbed. The youngest victim is just 22 months, according to reports.
Video footage captured a brave woman leaping in front of a pushchair in a bid to protect a child as the bearded knifeman lunged at the innocent tot.
And a hero bystander could be seen using his backpack in a bid to fend off the cowardly attacker after chasing him from the playground at Annecy in South East France, which is a tourist haven.
Parents could be heard screaming in terror amid the harrowing scenes.
The attacker, named as Syrian refugee Abdalmasih H, 31, was eventually overpowered and arrested by police who shot him in the leg.
One witness 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 easy targets.”
Another added: “People were running, crying, panicking, it was horrible.” One witness told how the knifeman stabbed an elderly man in the neck.
Former Liverpool footballer Anthony Le Tallec was running by the lake when terrified people started fleeing.
He saw the attacker being chased by police. The 38-year-old said: “There were four or five officers but I got the impression they didn’t know what to do.
“I was shouting at them, ‘Take him out, he is killing everyone.’
“Then he charged straight at a grandad and a granny.
“He stabbed the grandad. That’s when the police shot him.
“The grandad fell to the ground and the guy jumped on him and stabbed him a second time. It was total panic.”
French President Emmanuel Macron branded the attack “absolute cowardice”. He revealed the badly injured children were “between life and death” and added: “The nation is in shock.
“Our thoughts are with them as well as their families and the emergency services that mobilised.”
The British child was last night reported to be stable, as were the other three injured tots. She is in a hospital at nearby Grenoble.
Annecy mayor Francois Astorg said all the children had left theatre following the attack while an adult remained in surgery.
Local prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis told how one of the stabbed adults was also hit by a bullet as police arrested the attacker.
Deputy Annecy mayor Chantale Farmer said: “We are very shocked right now.”
Investigators say there is no clear motive for the rampage. Abdalmasih, who was given refugee status in Sweden, has no known links to extremism or a criminal record. He entered the park, which is nestled in the shadow of the French alps, at 9.45am before embarking on his terrifying bloodbath.
In other video footage Abdalmasih appears to shout “in the name of Jesus Christ”, while brandishing his knife and holding up a necklace or crucifix.
He is said to have told officers he is a Syrian Christian and was reportedly carrying a cross and prayer book.
Abdalmasih is homeless and arrived in Annecy last autumn. He was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack.
Mr Bonnet-Mathis said: “He had no fixed address and was living rough.”
Abdalmasih is thought to have been in Sweden since 2013, where he married a local woman. The couple have a child, aged three.
Both were training to be nurses but the couple reportedly split eight months ago. He was granted permanent residency in 2013 but denied citizenship in 2017 and 2018, Swedish officials said.
After the attack, more than 200 emergency service personnel were mobilised, including 160 police officers, 15 doctors and 60 paramedic firefighters.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly confirmed a British child was among those injured. On a visit to Paris, he said: “We stand ready to support the French authorities in any way we can. We stand in solidarity with the people of France at this terrible time.”
PM Rishi Sunak, who was last night meeting US President Joe Biden at the White House, added: “All our thoughts are with those who were affected in this unfathomable attack, including a British child, and their families.
“I have been in touch with President Macron. We stand ready to offer any assistance that we can.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “I am appalled by the attack on young children in Annecy, France. My thoughts are with the children, their families and the local community who have been affected by this shocking act.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer added: “My thoughts are with the victims of today’s shocking attack, their families and the wider community.
“The UK is united in offering our support to France.”
