• Four children and two adults injured after being stabbed in an attack in the French city of Annecy
  • Success The hero of Annecy's backpack: "I have been afraid for my life but above all for that of others"

Annecy, a postcard city at the foot of the French Alps, asked itself this Friday, between tears and flowers, several questions, but above all one to which nobody could find the answer: how is it possible to attack such young children in such a brutal way? The idyllic park where half a town has grown up and where she now raises her children saw yesterday how they stole part of this memory after the knife attack by a man to several children between two and three years in an area of swings.

No one understands anything. Delphine has just left some flowers, has two children and tells, through tears, that it is the park where they have grown up, also her. "It's where they play, where we come to picnic... Annecy has grown up in this place, which is part of our life and now this monster has come to take a part of us. Children ask questions, but how do you explain this to them?" she laments.

It's mid-morning and in Le Pâquier, a huge meadow overlooking the mountains and a lake, the children's play area where the children were attacked is quickly filled with flowers, messages of affection, drawings, stuffed animals, candles ... As if they wanted to create a kind of strength in the face of the brutality that had been experienced hours before on the same stage. Families with their children, older people, children, teenagers, athletes... Everyone took the opportunity to leave their show of support, in the form of a flower or handwritten note. Most struggled to contain their excitement.

Vik has gone with his parents to leave flowers. It goes by tricycle. His father has accompanied him, but it has been the little one who has gone, somewhat fearful, to leave them with the others. As if he didn't want to delegate his affection. He is three years old, the same age as some of the children injured yesterday. His mother, very excited, explains that she spent the day before in that area while stroking her son's head. "He's the same age," she says, excited.

Leo is older, he is eight, and he is already aware that the image he had of his childhood park will no longer be the same. "I have brought some flowers as a sign of affection so that the children recover soon. When I was younger, when I left school I would say to my mother, 'Take me to the boat park. I didn't come anymore but I think from now on I'm going to have a good and bad memory at the same time," he says.

The affection of the neighbors travels kilometers. David has come from the next village to bring flowers and a doll on which he has written the names of the minors attacked: "Ennio, Alba, Peter, Manuel". "We've all grown up in this park. I'm sunk, I don't understand how anyone can attack children," he says, also visibly shaken. "Dear children, I do not know you but I know that at this hour you are struggling. All my support. Love remains. The horror is gone," reads one of the notes.


Macron's visit

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has arrived after noon in Annecy, accompanied by his wife, Brigitte Macron, after having been in the hospital of Grenoble, where three of the four injured minors are admitted. Two of the four are in serious condition, along with another 78-year-old man.

Macron has been in the prefecture and has met "the heroes of Annecy": police, gendarmes, health workers, citizens like Henri, the 24-year-old boy who, with his backpack, tried to make the aggressor flee and who has already been nicknamed "the hero of the backpack". In an informal meeting, he thanked them for their intervention.

"All the families of the victims are aware of the speed, efficiency and collaboration despite the pressure," said Macron, who pointed out that "attacking children is the greatest barbarism there is."

He has said the two children who were in the most serious condition are stable and doctors are optimistic. "Not only have you done your duty, you have done more and that image of France that you have given is the one we believe in," he said.

The detainee, a 31-year-old Syrian refugee, remains in police custody. At the moment, it is not known what motivated him to attack the children. He had been living in Annecy for several months, where he slept on the street and had refugee status in Sweden. He was in legal standing. On Thursday he could not be questioned because "he was very agitated", he threw himself to the ground several times and said inconsistencies, police sources told French media.

It is the most serious attack that the Alpine town has experienced. "I've been living here all my life and nothing like it has ever happened," says Bavette, another of the people who has taken the opportunity to leave some flowers. "This is a magnificent city, a place of decoration, look what a park...", he says.

The emotion and trauma of this brutal attack is palpable in every corner. At the brasserie Royal, the shop assistant hides in the back room and rinses her eyes. Because while he is standing waiting for customers to come, he suddenly thinks about what happened yesterday and gets excited. "I can't help it. It's that I'm very affected. How is it possible?", he justifies himself. A question that will remain unanswered.

  • Sweden
  • France
  • Emmanuel Macron

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