Two critical after rampage by driver on French island

Two people have been left in a critical condition after being struck by a car in a “35-minute rampage” on the French holiday island of Ile d’Oleron.

- ALEX CROFT

The suspected driver, a 35-year-old man who had committed multiple past offences, was arrested after being tasered by police. An attempted murder investigation is now underway. The man had attempted to set fire to his vehicle, which contained a number of gas cylinders. Images from the scene showed forensic officers scouring a charred white car.

The suspect “deliberately struck a number of people on bicycles or on foot” and “five people were hit during a 35-minute rampage”, interior minister Laurent Nunez said. Earlier reports indicated that 10 people were injured in total.

Among the injured is the parliamentary assistant of National Rally MP Pascal Markowsky, who remains in a critical condition, with the rest of the victims reported to be aged between 22 and 67.

The incident has sparked outcry from far-right and right-wing politicians, who laid blame for the incident on “Islamism” after the local public prosecutor said the driver had shouted “Allahu Akbar” while ploughing into the pedestrians.

“At the time of his arrest, [the man] shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’,” La Rochelle public prosecutor Arnaud Laraize said. “However, the motive is not confirmed and the investigation will have to determine it.”