PARIS (Reuters) -A driver rammed into pedestrians and cyclists on France’s tourist-frequented Ile d’Oleron island off the Atlantic coast on Wednesday and two people were in intensive care, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
The driver was arrested by police and an investigation was opened, he said in a post on X.
About nine people in total were injured, the mayor for Dolus-d’Oleron, Thibault Brechkoff, told BFM TV. The suspect is about 30 years old, he said.
BFM TV said the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for God is Greatest) when arrested. Le Parisien newspaper reported the same, while adding that investigators were also looking into the possibility that the suspect might be mentally disturbed.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office was not in charge of the inquiry at this stage, French media reported. The prosecutor’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Inti Landauro; editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten, Ingrid Melander and Mark Heinrich)
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