SW News: Children and adults who were stabbed in a playground on June 8 at Annecy in France's southeast area are now stable. Four toddlers aged one to three and two pensioners were stabbed in the knife attack. The mayor of Annecy Francois Astorg told the media the children are out of the operating room adding that for the moment, their condition seems stable

A video of the attack by a witness showed the assailant jumping over a low wall into the children's playground intending to attack them, pushing aside a woman who tried to fend him off.

While the other victims had less severe injuries, two children and an adult were critical.

In a press conference on Thursday, Annecy prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said two of the injured toddlers were French and the other two were British and Dutch tourists respectively.

Police identified the attacker to be a Syrian refugee who carried Swedish identity documents and licence. The local prosecutor overseeing the attack said there was no evidence that terrorism was the assailant's motive. He is now under investigation for attempted murder.

French interior minister Gerald Darmanin traveled to Annecy alongside Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. Minister Darmanin revealed that the attacker lived in Sweden for 10 years and applied for asylum in France, which was rejected earlier this month. Ms. Borne told a news conference that the attacker has "no criminal or psychiatric record."

French President Emmanuel Macron said his country was in shock and called the attack an act of absolute cowardice. Legislatures in the National Assembly observed a minute's silence for those injured in the attack.