A motorist drove into a crowd of pedestrians and cyclists on the French island of Oléron on Wednesday, leaving nearly a dozen people injured along the country’s Atlantic coastline.
According to France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, the suspect struck five people within a span of 35 minutes.
CNN affiliate BFMTV reported that ten passersby were hurt, with at least two sustaining serious injuries, including a 22-year-old woman.
Police quickly arrived at the scene and managed to apprehend the suspect “with difficulty,” Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron Mayor Christophe Sueur told BFMTV.
The man was taken into custody, and an investigation has since been launched, Nuñez confirmed.
France’s national anti-terror prosecutor’s office is also keeping a close watch on the case, BFMTV added.
Nuñez, speaking at the site of the incident, said officials would examine the suspect’s phone records to determine if the case could develop into an anti-terror probe.
“Up until now he’s not saying much,” the interior minister told journalists.
Sueur said some of the injured victims would be airlifted to Poitiers on the French mainland and noted that no children were among those hurt.
BFMTV reported that after mowing down several people, the driver exited his vehicle and attempted to set it ablaze. During the attack, he was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar,” prosecutors said, though they stressed that a clear motive has not been established.
Authorities identified the suspect as a French man in his 30s of Caucasian descent.
He was known to local police for offenses such as theft and driving under the influence but had no record with intelligence agencies, according to BFMTV.
The man, who has family on Oléron and began his drive there on Wednesday, left his vehicle wrecked by the roadside “with its front ripped off,” Sueur recalled.
“It all happened very quickly,” the mayor said. “I don’t associate with him, but he is a person who is known, particularly to the police services.”
