A 13-year-old girl was killed and four others were seriously injured on Monday night after a man deliberately drove a car into a pizzeria to the east of Paris.

Police were quick to rule out terrorism. The man drove into the crowd of diners at the restaurant in the town of Sept-Sorts, around 40 miles east of Paris.

Witnesses said around 20 people were at the pizzeria at the time.

Police arrested the driver immediately and after an initial interrogation ruled out any potential terrorist motives.

A source from the prosecutor’s office said the man was suicidal and had already tried to take his life the day before.

While the driver did not manage to take his own life on Monday, he left a teenage girl dead, with her younger brother among the four in a critical condition.

Another eight are said to have suffered light injuries.

The identity of the driver remains unknown, although the Interior Minister has said that he is in his early thirties.

He is reportedly unknown to French police and intelligence services and has no links to terrorism.

France remains on edge after a series of attacks across the country, most recently with a driver last week ramming a BMW into six soldiers to the north of Paris.