PARIS (FRANCE) – French Prime Minister Jean Castex said four people were stabbed on Friday near the Paris office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which was attacked by Islamist militants over five years ago. Police said a suspect has been arrested.
The condition of two of the victims is serious, said a police source.
“I was in my office. I heard screams in the road. I looked out of the window and saw a woman who was lying on the floor and had taken a whack in the face from what was possibly a machete,” said a witness on Europe 1 radio.
“I saw a second neighbour on the floor and I went to help.”
One person has been arrested near the Bastille opera house, said Paris police in connection with the attack.
According to a police source, a machete has been found from the area of the crime while another source said a meat cleaver was also found there.
Local authorities urged people to be vigilant and avoid visiting the area, adding that a police operation is underway in a northeastern district of the capital. Deputy mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said on Twitter that police were trying to track down a “potentially dangerous” individual.
Metro lines in the area were closed.