Well-wishers laid flowers on Friday at the site in the French mountain town of Annecy where an attacker stabbed four toddlers, as investigators held the asylum-seeking assailant in custody for a second day.
Two of the children were still in a critical but stable condition in hospital a day after the attack, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said. The other two – and two pensioners who were also wounded – had less serious injuries, officials said.
President Emmanuel Macron, who called the attack an "act of absolute cowardice", visited the hospital in nearby city of Grenoble on Friday where three of the four are being cared for.
Among the children wounded in the attack were a British national and a Dutch national.
Police have opened an investigation for attempted murder.
The suspect, named as Abdalmasih H., a 31-year old Syrian national who was granted asylum in Sweden 10 years ago, was arrested at the scene.
He is being kept in custody for a second day having undergone a psychiatric examination.
'Backpack hero'
France hailed the bravery of a young Catholic pilgrim who came face-to-face with the assailant and used his backpack as a shield as he sought to block the attack.
French media dubbed the 24-year-old "the backpack hero".
Toi, Henri, 24 ans, qui t’es interposé ce matin à Annecy face au tueur et à son couteau, au péril de ta vie, pour essayer de protéger les enfants, tu es un héros et la France toute entière te dit : MERCI. pic.twitter.com/5Uf5ZlEKX8
— Hugo Clément (@hugoclement) June 8, 2023
The management and philosophy student has identified himself only as Henri.
"All I know is I was not there by chance," he told the CNews television network. "It was unthinkable to do nothing ... I followed my instincts and did what I could to protect the weak."
Video footage shows him trying to block the assailant with one of his two backpacks, pursuing the man into the playground and throwing one of his bags at the attacker.
A mass will be held in Annecy Cathedral in tribute to the victims and their families later on Friday, church authorities said.
Immigration
PM Borne said the suspect had entered France legally, and was carrying Swedish identity documents and a Swedish driving licence.
French authorities said the suspect had recently been refused asylum in France since Sweden had already granted him permanent residency.
While prosecutors insisted there was "no obvious terrorist motive" to the attack, the rampage has intensified tensions in France over immigration, with right-wing politicians seizing on the origins of the refugee.
"The investigation will determine what happened, but it seems like the culprit has the same profile that you see often in these attacks," the head of the right-wing Republicans party, Eric Ciotti, told reporters at parliament.
Marine Le Pen, an MP and figurehead of the far-right National Rally (RN) said France should "regain sovereignty" on immigration questions and the French constitution should come above EU law in those matters.
Government spokesman Olivier Veran said answers would have to be provided, but regretted that "when the kids are on the operating table, everyone starts to indulge in a rather unhealthy game of explanations and justifications".
