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A man seemingly armed with a knife and hammer has injured three people in an early-morning attack at the major Gare de Lyon train station in Paris.
The attack unfolded at around 7.35am on Saturday morning and left one person in a serious condition in hospital, while two others suffered minor injuries.
Prosecutors in Paris said a security guard tackled the suspect to the ground at the Gare de Lyon, France’s second-busiest station, before he was taken into police custody.
A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said that a knife and hammer believed to have been used in the attack are being analysed by police.
The man’s motives have not yet been determined and the attack is not immediately being treated as a possible terrorist incident.
A general view outside of the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris, France
(AP)
The police investigation was looking at a potential preliminary charge of attempted murder, the prosecutor’s office said.
Posting on social media, interior minister Gerald Darmanin described the attack as an “unbearable act” and thanked those who detained the suspect.
The attack on Saturday is another nerve-rattling security incident in the Olympic host city before the Summer Games open in six months.
Security in Paris is being ramped up as it prepares to welcome 10,500 Olympians and millions of visitors for the first Olympic Games in a century in the French capital.
The Games are to open with a massive open-air ceremony along the River Seine on 26 July, a major security challenge in the city that has been repeatedly hit by terror attacks.
Most recently, a man targeted passersby near the Eiffel Tower in December, killing a German tourist with a knife and injuring two others.
