World
Driver hits several people on French holiday island of Ile d’Oleron
A driver has knocked down several people on the French island of Ile d’Oleron.
Two people are in intensive care following the incident and a man has been arrested, French interior minister Laurent Nunez said.
Several others were injured after the motorist struck pedestrians and cyclists, he added.
Thibault Brechkoff, the mayor of Dolus-d’Oleron, told BFMTV the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for God is Greatest) when he was detained.
Arnaud Laraize, the public prosecutor in La Rochelle, told the Sud Ouest newspaper the 35-year-old suspect “resisted arrest” and was “subdued using a stun gun”.
He said the suspect was known for minor offences such as theft, adding he was not on a list of people considered a threat to national security.
Pedestrians and cyclists were hit on a road between Dolus d’Oleron and Saint-Pierre d’Oleron, he added.
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Police were alerted, with the first calls made at around 9am, according to French media reports.
Mr Nunez said in a post on X that he was heading to the scene at the request of the French prime minister.