PARIS (AP) — A motorist deliberately rammed pedestrians and cyclists Wednesday on Île d’Oléron, a quiet French island popular with tourists off the Atlantic coast, injuring nine people before being detained by gendarmes, officials said.
Two of the injured were in critical condition, said Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. He said an investigation was underway and he was heading to the scene.
Dolus-d’Oléron Mayor Thibault Brechkoff said that several deliberate collisions occurred in two towns and injured nine people. A crisis cell was set up and the suspect was arrested, he said.
“We are extremely shocked,” Brechkoff said on BFM-TV. “All municipal services are fully mobilized. Two helicopters are on site transporting the gravely injured to Poitiers.”
He said he had to call one injured victim’s mother himself. “You’re never prepared to announce news like this.”
The incidents took place along roadside areas between the two communes, with first calls around 9:00 a.m, according to French media.
Media reports identified the suspect is a 35-year-old French national residing in La Cotinière, a small fishing village on the west coast of Île d’Oléron, and said he had prior offenses.
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