A driver has rammed into pedestrians and cyclists on France's tourist-frequented Ile d'Oleron island off the Atlantic coast on Wednesday and two people are in intensive care, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.
The driver was arrested by police and an investigation has opened, Nunez added in a post on X. The interior minister also mentioned he was travelling to the scene at the request of the French prime minister to oversee the response efforts.
The incident happened between two villages on the Island - Dolus-d'Oléron and Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron.
About nine people in total were injured, the mayor for Dolus-d'Oleron, Thibault Brechkoff, told BFM TV. The suspect is about 30 years old, he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron who is enroute to Brazil for the COP 30 Summit is said to be monitoring the situation in Ile d'Oleron.
Acording to the President's entourage, he had spoken to the Interior Minister by telephone and had requested that he heads to the scene of the incident.
The mayor of Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron, Christophe Sueur also told BFMTV that those injured were not in a life-threatening condition.
The French TV channel said the suspect shouted "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for God is Greatest) when arrested. Le Parisien newspaper reported the same, while adding that investigators were also looking into the possibility that the suspect might be mentally disturbed.
Sueur added that the suspect is a French national born in 1990 and that he had family in the area who have been informed.
According to the TV's sources, he is known to the local police for common law offenses, such as theft and driving under the influence of alcohol.
France's anti-terrorism prosecutor's office was not in charge of the inquiry at this stage, French media reported. The prosecutor's office could not immediately be reached for comment.
Local emergency services were deployed immediately, and the area has been cordoned off as authorities gather evidence.
Officials have not yet commented on the motive behind the incident or whether it is being treated as deliberate.
Île d’Oléron, located off France’s western Atlantic coast near La Rochelle in the Charente-Maritime department, is the country’s second-largest island after Corsica, known for its beaches, oyster farms, and popular holiday resorts. It is connected to the mainland by a nearly three-kilometre bridge near the city of Rochefort.
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