Driver Rams Into People in Southern France; 3 Students Hurt

VOA News
Last Updated: 10 November 2017 (6:12PM)

Three Chinese students were injured Friday when a man known to have psychiatric problems deliberately ran them over with his car near Toulouse, France, police said.

French officials said the driver, 28, was known to authorities for previous minor crimes but was not on a list of known extremists. He was immediately arrested.

Toulouse prosecutor Pierre-Yves Couilleau said in a statement the man has long suffered from psychological problems and was hospitalized as late as last December.

"For the moment, it is not being looked at as a terrorist incident, although it is also not ruled out," Couilleau said.

Police said regular prosecutors, not counterterrorism officials, would handle the investigation.

Officials said the attack occurred in front of the Blagnac campus of the Institute for Social Research. Police said the driver "deliberately" tried to ram the students with his car.

All three victims, one woman and two men, were said to be in their early 20s. The female victim was being treated for serious head injuries.

France has experienced a rash of vehicular terror attacks inspired by the Islamic State group. Last year, a Tunisian man used a large truck to kill 86 people in Nice.