Three-year-old British girl to leave hospital after Alps stabbing spree
A three-year-old British girl, injured in a stabbing incident in the French Alps, is expected to be discharged from the hospital within days, according to prosecutors. French judges have also charged a man with attempted murder for allegedly attacking a total of four children and two adults. The British girl was on holiday with her family in Annecy when the attack occurred at a playground last week. Two French children required surgery, and a Dutch child remains in the hospital. French President Emmanuel Macron praised the emergency workers who intervened in the incident.
Among those who assisted the victims was a man named Henri, dubbed the “back-pack hero,” who used his bag to stop the attacker. A French man sustained minor injuries, while a second adult suffered multiple stab wounds before being struck by a police bullet. The second adult underwent emergency surgery, but none of the victims are in life-threatening condition. Police have stated that the incident is not believed to be terror-related, but discussing the motivation at this stage would be premature.
The suspect, a 31-year-old Syrian national identified in local and French media as Abdalmasih H., was not previously known to police or the French justice system and has remained silent while in custody. Prosecutors revealed that the suspect registered with French authorities upon entering the country on October 26, 2022. He applied for asylum the following day, but his application was rejected in early June since he had already been granted asylum in Sweden.
Abdalmasih H. arrived in Sweden in 2013 from Turkey and left for Italy and Switzerland in May 2022 before reaching France. He is married and has a child, born in April 2020, in Sweden. The suspect has no fixed address and resides in a communal apartment block.
