Nearly 150 people were jabbed with syringes during a street music festival in France, the country’s interior ministry said, adding that authorities had arrested at least 12 suspects.
Across France, millions of people spilled out into the streets over the weekend to celebrate the annual music festival Fête de la Musique. In the French capital of Paris, authorities reported that there were three to four times as many people in public as normal.
The needle attacks involved 145 victims, including 13 cases in Paris, the French Interior Ministry told NBC News in a statement, adding that at least 12 people had been arrested.
In the northeastern French city of Metz, local police arrested two individuals, including a “syringe attacker,” during the festival that broke all attendance records, Mayor François Grosdidier said in a post on Instagram.
“Risks are always present in wild…However, we had to deal with syringe attacks,” Grosdidier wrote.
The first syringe attack in Metz was reported at about 9:15 p.m. local time, he said, adding that the victims included 15 young women between the ages of 14 and 20. The suspected syringe attacker had been arrested and handed over the National Police for further investigations, he added.
“I hope that the investigation, particularly through the examination of his cell phone, will lead to the identification of other attackers,” Grosdidier said.
French officials did not say if these were cases of “needle spiking,” which typically see attackers inject victims with date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol or GHB, typically in the arm, leg or buttocks, leaving them disoriented and vulnerable to assault.
Warnings about the attacks first appeared on TikTok from social media influencer Abrège Soeur, who said in a post on Saturday that “Men are planning to attack and sting women at the Fête de la Musique on June 21st.”
Soeur, who describes herself as a feminist, suggested that women in danger during the festival use “H&M” as a code.
“Approach the person and ask, ‘Where’s your top from?’ If they answer ‘H&M,’ it means they need help,” Soeur said. If “you are in danger, hail someone over and ask, ‘Where’s your top from? H&M, right?’” she added.
This year’s summer music festival season in Paris has brought with it renewed fears of syringe attacks after a wave of reports in 2022. At the time, the French government put out alerts advising people to stay vigilant, go to the police, and take a toxicology test if they suspected they had been drugged by a needle prick.
More than 370 people were arrested on various charges during the festival that year, including nearly 90 in Paris. Among the 14 seriously injured festival-goers was a 17-year-old who was hospitalized from wounds to the lower abdomen, according to news agency Agence France-Presse.
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