Anupong Suebsamarn was visiting city with his wife but the other person killed has not yet been named

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

One of the people killed in the Strasbourg terrorist attack has been named as a Thai tourist who was travelling with his wife.

The other person murdered was not immediately named. At least 13 people were injured, with one said to have been left “brain dead”.

Anupong Suebsamarn, 45, was the owner of a noodle factory in Chachoengsao province, east of Bangkok, and also sold clothes in the Thai capital’s garment district, according to the English-language website of the newspaper Khao Sod.

The newspaper quoted his uncle as saying the couple had originally planned to be in Paris, but the yellow vest protests there caused them to change plans and go to Strasbourg instead. Spokeswoman Busadee Santipitaks said Thai officials had asked French authorities and members of the Thai community in Strasbourg to help Anupong’s widow, and Thai consular officials were travelling there on Wednesday to provide further assistance.

A Thai foreign ministry spokeswoman said the country’s embassy in Paris confirmed his death.

Strasbourg attack: 'It lasted for minutes, but felt like hours' Read more

Among those injured was an Italian journalist, Antonio Megalizzi, 28, who was in a coma and fighting for his life after being “hit in the head by a bullet” fired by the attacker, his girlfriend’s father, Danilo Moresco, told Italian media.

“The bullet ended up in a very serious position in the skull area, between the nape and the spine,” Moresco said.

Megalizzi, who worked for Europhonica, a consortium of university radio stations, was in the area of the attack with colleagues, Caterina Moser and Clara Stevanato, who managed to escape.

“They lost sight of Antonio because he was on the ground,” added Moresco.

Megalizzi, from the northern province of Trento, had been in Strasbourg since Sunday to cover plenary sessions of the European parliament.

French politicians held a minute’s silence for the victims and their families on Wednesday.

The interior minister, Christophe Castaner, also paid tribute to three people who tried to stop the gunman in streets near the famous market, including a woman who suffered stab wounds.

He said their actions highlighted “our compatriots’ ability to be heroic”.

Lawmakers from all parties applauded his comments.

The suspected gunman, identified by police union officials as 29-year-old Cherif Cherkatt, is still at large. He was on a police watch list for radicalism before Tuesday’s attack.