Driver rams into pedestrians in western France, five injured

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SAINT-PIERRE-D’OLERON, France (Reuters) -A French man rammed his car into pedestrians and cyclists on Oleron island off France’s Atlantic coast on Wednesday, injuring five people and shouting “Allahu Akbar” when arrested by police, officials said.

Officials including Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the motive for the attack on a quiet island popular with summer tourists remained unknown, adding that the suspect was not on a watchlist of radicalised individuals.

“This morning, starting at 8:40, an individual driving his vehicle went on a journey during which he deliberately hit several people who were in his path, either on bicycles or on foot,” Nunez told reporters on the island.

“Five people were hit during his journey, which lasted about 35 minutes.” The suspect’s car struck pedestrians and cyclists in various areas of the island, officials said.

Nunez confirmed media reports that the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “God is Greatest”) when arrested, but said that was only one element in a broader investigation.

SUSPECT IS LOCAL FISHERMAN, MAYOR SAYS

The 35-year-old suspect is a local fisherman, the mayor of Dolus-d’Oleron, Thibault Brechkoff, told reporters.

Two of the victims were seriously injured, including the parliamentary assistant of a far-right National Rally lawmaker, Nunez said. The number of victims was revised down from previous reports of nine.

Nunez said the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office was not in charge of the inquiry at this stage, and that the inquiry was for now being handled by the local prosecutor’s office in La Rochelle. The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

“We’re dealing with an individual who lives on the island, and the victims also live on the island,” local lawmaker Olivier Falorni told reporters at the National Assembly in Paris. “Is this a settling of scores? Or an Islamist attack? I have no idea. Is there a political motive? Is it someone mentally unstable who snapped?”

KNOWN TO POLICE FOR PETTY CRIME

Le Parisien newspaper said investigators were looking into the possibility that the suspect might be mentally disturbed.

The man was previously known to police for petty crime including driving while drunk, as well as drug-related offences, officials said.

“The 35-year-old man, of French citizenship, who lives on Oleron island, was known for common law offences and was not known by security services,” junior minister Marie-Pierre Vedrenne told parliament.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Inti Landauro, Dominique Vidalon and Benoit Van Overstraeten; writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Mark Heinrich)