A soldier patrols on the Gare du Nord practice station on Wednesday after an attacker stabbed 6 folks earlier than being shot by police.

Michel Euler/AP

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Michel Euler/AP

A soldier patrols on the Gare du Nord practice station on Wednesday after an attacker stabbed 6 folks earlier than being shot by police.

Michel Euler/AP

PARIS — An attacker wounded six folks in an unprovoked blade assault in Paris’ busy Gare du Nord practice station Wednesday morning earlier than being shot and wounded by police, France’s inside minister mentioned, praising the swift intervention of police for serving to forestall any fatalities.

The suspect attacked a number of folks, together with a police officer, with a “bladed weapon” through the morning rush hour, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin informed reporters on the scene, flanked by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

He mentioned the unnamed assailant was presently “between life and death” in hospital after being shot within the chest, in keeping with French media. Darmanin thanked the police “for their effective and courageous reaction.”

“Without the extremely rapid intervention, there would surely be deaths,” he mentioned, detailing how the suspect was neutralized inside one minute of attacking his first sufferer.

“At 6:42, the first acts were described. At 6:43, the police used their administrative weapon after his passage of violence,” he mentioned.

A police automobile parks exterior the Gare du Nord practice station on Wednesday.

Michel Euler/AP

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Michel Euler/AP

A police automobile parks exterior the Gare du Nord practice station on Wednesday.

Michel Euler/AP

Darmanin mentioned the attacker’s weapon was “not a knife” however doubtless a do-it-yourself weapon. He mentioned the suspect was reported to not have mentioned something through the assault and that investigators haven’t found any extremist hyperlinks.

According to French media studies, the suspect first threw himself upon a person in entrance of the practice station, stabbing him 15 occasions and significantly wounding him. The assailant then entered the station and attacked 4 civilians and a police officer, the media studies mentioned.

Screams alerted two different cops who intervened whereas the suspect was attacking the officer. The officer for France’s border guard was stabbed within the again however not significantly wounded due to a bulletproof vest, Darmanin mentioned.

The man stabbed exterior the station was the one one who sustained severe wounds within the assault, officers mentioned. Police opened an investigation into whether or not the assault merited tried assassination prices.

Travelers wait behind police tape on the Gare du Nord practice station on Wednesday.

Michel Euler/AP

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Michel Euler/AP

Travelers wait behind police tape on the Gare du Nord practice station on Wednesday.

Michel Euler/AP

Video of the Gare du Nord, one of many French capital’s busiest commuter stations, confirmed an eerie calms as dozens of police huddled close by the Eurostar terminal entrance in areas cordoned off from the general public.

No particular motive has presently been advised by authorities. France stays jittery following a spate of lethal terror assaults since 2015.

The commotion additionally precipitated severe disruptions to coach providers on the station — Europe’s busiest rail artery — within the early morning rush hour, in keeping with the nationwide railway firm SNCF.