A 35-year-old man drove his car into pedestrians and cyclists on France’s Oléron island on Wednesday, injuring at least nine people in an attack that has drawn attention from national leaders.
A 35-year-old French man rammed his car into pedestrians and cyclists on Oléron island, off France’s Atlantic coast, on Wednesday, injuring at least nine people, officials said.
The suspect, a local resident, reportedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is Greatest” in Arabic) as he was arrested by police, according to Arnaud Laraize, the public prosecutor in La Rochelle, who spoke to Sud Ouest newspaper.
Authorities said the incident occurred between the villages of Dolus-d’Oléron and Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron. Two of the victims were seriously injured, including the parliamentary assistant of a far-right National Rally lawmaker, while others sustained less severe wounds.
The driver’s car hit several pedestrians and cyclists in different locations before he allegedly set his vehicle on fire. Police later inspected the partially burnt-out car.
Local emergency services quickly arrived at the scene, cordoned off the area, and began gathering evidence.
While some witnesses reported hearing the suspect shout a religious phrase, officials said the motive remains undetermined.
Olivier Falorni, the regional deputy in the French parliament, told reporters in Paris:
“We’re dealing with an individual who lives on the island, and the victims also live on the island. Is this a settling of scores? An Islamist attack? I have no idea. Is there a political motive, or someone mentally unstable who snapped?”
French media reported that the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office has not taken over the case at this stage. An investigation for attempted murder is currently being led by the local prosecutor’s office in La Rochelle.
Officials said the suspect is a French national born in 1990, who has family on the island. He is known to police for petty crime, including drunk driving and drug-related offences, but was not on any security or radicalisation watchlists, according to junior minister Marie-Pierre Vedrenne.
The newspaper Le Parisien reported that investigators are also exploring whether the suspect suffers from mental health issues.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on X that the driver had been arrested and that an investigation was under way. He added that he was travelling to the scene at the request of the French prime minister to oversee the response.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who was en route to Brazil for the COP30 Summit, was said to be monitoring the situation closely. According to his office, the president spoke with Nunez by phone and asked him to coordinate the national response on-site.
Local officials, including Dolus-d’Oléron mayor Thibault Brechkoff and Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron mayor Christophe Sueur, said the victims were not in life-threatening condition and that the community was in shock following the incident.
Île d’Oléron, located off France’s western Atlantic coast near La Rochelle, in the Charente-Maritime region, 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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