French police on Friday arrested a man suspected of stabbing three women in the Paris metro as the capital’s end-of-year festivities were in full swing.
The RATP authority that runs the transit service disclosed that the three victims were attacked at three different locations along the Line 3 metro track that runs across central Paris.
An AFP journalist at the Republique station saw a security team treating a woman who had been wounded in the leg and appeared to be in a state of shock.
The RATP said the attacks happened between 4:15 p.m. (1515 GMT) and 4:45 p.m. at the stations Republique and Arts et Metiers – both next to the Marais district – and the Opera station.
“The victims were quickly taken care of by the emergency services,” it said.
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Paris police said two of the women attacked were treated by the emergency services and taken to hospital, but they were not in critical condition.
The police added that the third woman turned up at hospital seeking treatment.
Transport police have opened an investigation into attempted homicide and assault with a weapon.
The Ministry of Interior said in a statement that the assailant was a Malian citizen who had been imprisoned in January 2024 for aggravated theft and sexual assault convictions and had been required to leave France after being released in July.
The ministry stated that the man had been placed in an administrative detention centre but failure to obtain a consular travel document required for his deportation had meant he was released after 90 days, as required by law.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez “regrets that the deportation of the suspect could not be carried out” and assured that “efforts are continuing to prioritise the deportation of undocumented foreigners who have committed public order offences.”
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