German tourist killed and British man among those injured in Paris attack

A German man has been killed and a British man among two people injured, after a knife and hammer attack near the Eiffel Tower in central Paris on Saturday

A German tourist was killed and a British man is one of two people injured in a knife and hammer attack near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Saturday.

A 25-year-old French citizen who was known to police was Tasered and arrested.

The British Foreign Office said in a statement: “We are supporting a British man who was injured in Paris and are in contact with the local authorities.”

French President Emmanuel Macron described the event as a “terrorist attack” and sent his condolences to the families and loved ones of those affected.

J’adresse toutes mes condoléances à la famille et aux proches du ressortissant allemand décédé ce soir lors de l’attaque terroriste survenue à Paris et pense avec émotion aux personnes actuellement blessées et prises en charge.

Mes plus sincères remerciements aux forces de…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 3, 2023

“The national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office now seized will be responsible for shedding light on this matter so that justice can be done in the name of the French people,” Mr Macron said.

After his arrest, he expressed anguish about Muslims dying, notably in Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories, and claimed that France was an accomplice, French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said.

France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said a person had attacked “passers-by” in the Quai de Grenelle area, 15 minutes from the Eiffel Tower.

A man jogs at the scene where a man targeted people late on Saturday. / Credit: AP

“This person was ready to kill others,” Mr Darmanin told reporters.

Police stopped the attacker by firing a Taser, and officers were praised by the interior minister for their quick response. Without their fast actions “there would doubtless have been other dead,” he said.

In response to the attacks French prime minister Élisabeth Borne wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “We will not give in to terrorism. Never.”

France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told reporters there would have been more deaths without the quick police response. / Credit: AP

The attacker, who has not been named, was under surveillance and undergoing psychiatric treatment, the minister said.

The terror risk in France was raised to the highest possible level following a fatal attack in Arras, northern France, on October 13. A teacher was stabbed by a former student who had likely undergone Islamic radicalisation.

In 2020 another teacher was killed outside of Paris in what Mr Macron described as an “Islamist terrorist attack”.