A third person has been detained in an anti-terrorism investigation in France over a knife attack south of Lyon that left two people dead, authorities said on Sunday.

The third arrest was made on Saturday night, and that all three of the suspects are Sudanese, the French anti-terror prosecutor’s office said.

On Saturday, a man attacked residents with a knife in the small town of Romans-sur-Isere, injuring several people in addition to the two fatalities.

Residents, who were in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, were carrying out their permitted daily food shopping.

France’s counter-terrorism prosecutor’s office said the assailant was arrested minutes after as he was kneeling on the sidewalk praying in Arabic. It said one of his acquaintances also was detained.



Prosecutors didn’t identify the suspect. They said he had no identification documents, but that he is Sudanese and was born in 1987.

During a subsequent search of his home, authorities found handwritten documents that included arguments about religion and a complaint about living in a “country of unbelievers.”

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:57 - GMT 06:57