Four very young children have been stabbed in a park near Lake Annecy, in France’s south-east.

Police overpowered and arrested the attacker, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said.

Reports say the children were aged about three years old and at least two were in a critical condition.

UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that one of the injured children was a British national.

Regional deputy Antoine Armand described the attack as “abominable” and said authorities were investigating but knew “very little”.

He added his thoughts were with the victims and their loved ones.

French prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, and Mr Darmanin, have arrived at the scene.

Local officials earlier said six children were injured in the attack, but authorities later confirmed six people in total had been hurt, including four children.

Police have confirmed that the suspect is a 31-year-old Syrian, who had refugee status in Sweden.

He is said to have attacked the children – some in pushchairs – as they visited the park, before fleeing the scene and stabbing an elderly man nearby.

Police intervened and the perpetrator was shot in the legs.

France’s National Assembly has observed a minute of silence and roads are blocked around the scene of the attack.

President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that the nation was in “shock” over the “act of cowardice”.

Mr Cleverly said that British consular officials are travelling to the area “to support the family” of the injured child.

“We stand in strong solidarity with the people of France at this terrible time,” he said at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.

Former Liverpool football player Anthony le Tallec was on a run in the town at the time of the attack. He said he heard people yelling “Run! Run!” and watched as the police chased the alleged attacker down after attacking an elderly man. He said he then continued his run along the lake, where he saw the injured children on the ground.

“It’s crazy to have this in Annecy”, he said.

He also claimed police were delayed in their response to shoot the man with the knife.

Another woman, Eleanor Vincent, told the BBC she “knew something horrible had happened” as she approached the lake.

“People were going about their business or on their holiday, as I was, and it’s just shocking. I have no other way of describing it.”

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