Tourists attacked with acid in France

PARIS. — The Marseille prosecutor’s office says four young female US tourists have been attacked with acid in Marseille’s main train station by a woman who has been arrested.

Two of the tourists were injured in the face in the attack in the city’s main Saint Charles train station and one of them has a possible eye injury, a spokesperson for the Marseille prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press in a phone call.

She said all four of the tourists, who are in their 20s, have been hospitalised, two of them for shock. She said a 41-year-old female suspect has been arrested.

The spokesperson did not release any further details about the victims or the suspect. She spoke on condition of anonymity, per the French judicial system.

There was no immediate information on where the US tourists were from.

Marseille is a port city in southern France that is closer to Barcelona than Paris.

In previous incidents in Marseille, a driver deliberately rammed into two bus stops last month, killing a woman, but officials said it wasn’t terror-related.

In April, French police say they thwarted an imminent “terror attack” and arrested two suspected radicals in Marseille just days before the first round of France’s presidential election. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters the two suspects “were getting ready to carry out an imminent, violent action” on French territory.

In January 2016, a 15-year-old Turkish Kurd was arrested after attacking a Jewish teacher on a Marseille street. He told police he acted in the name of the Islamic State group.

BA flight security scare forces evacuation in Paris

In another development, a London-bound British Airways flight was evacuated at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport yesterday due to a security scare, but was later cleared for take-off, the airport’s operator said.

A spokesperson for Aeroports de Paris said an incident “linked to security” had led staff to evacuate the 130 passengers on board Heathrow-bound flight BA303.

“There was an incident that led authorities to decide to keep the plane on the ground and to disembark the passengers a few minutes before take-off, to carry out additional checks,” the spokesperson said.

The checks were completed and the flight was able to take off shortly before noon, more than four hours late.

British Airways said in a statement: “The safety and security of our customers and crew is always our top priority.” —AP-AFP.

You Might Also Like

Comments