A teenage girl has died and several other people have been injured after a driver deliberately crashed into the front of a pizzeria in a town outside Paris.
The attack happened at the Pizzeria Cesena in the district of La Fierté sous-Jouarre in the village of Sept-Sorts. The town is approximately 40 miles outside Paris, not too far from Disneyland Paris.
Up to 12 other people were injured, five seriously hurt, including a three-year-old boy, believed to be the teenager's younger brother, according to The Mirror.
He is currently being treated in hospital for his injuries, which have been described as life threatening.
It’s believed the driver was suicidal and that the attack is not terrorism-related.
One line of investigation that the police are taking is that the man was attempting to commit suicide by crashing his vehicle.
#SeptSorts: car intentionally hits pizzeria; 13yo girl killed, 4 seriously & 8 lightly injured, suspect tried to kill himself a few days ago pic.twitter.com/Hpfm5e2T9S
— NewsAspect (@newsaspect) August 14, 2017
The driver was immediately arrested at the scene. He was not previously known to police.
According to witnesses, the 32-year-old attacker drove up to the Pizzeria Cesena restaurant, “waited outside and then driven at the restaurant at speed”. Witnesses say he “made no effort to brake”.
Approximately 20 people were inside the popular family restaurant at the time.
Photos from the scene show the wreckage of a grey BMW inside the restaurant and extensive damage to the building. Several people were eating on the terrace at the time.
A witness told local TV: “A car drove into the terrace and crashed into the bar. The driver tried to reverse but someone stopped them. The gendarmes arrived quickly. There were around 20 people in the restaurant”.
Another source said: "At least five people are very seriously injured. The man was arrested and is now with the police. There is a gendarmerie very close by.
#SeptSorts We watch over journalos - and we complete what we can easily... Car impact according to photos pic.twitter.com/wbSrs0veps
— Bouche Bée (@bouche_bee) August 15, 2017
"Anti-terrorist officers arrived on the scene very quickly, but we don’t yet know what this is about".
Local media are reporting that the man had weapons in the car and told police that he wanted to kill himself. It’s believed the man had already attempted suicide the previous week.
After the attack, roads into the village were blocked off and specialist police units from Paris arrived at the scene.
Early reports suggested the girl who died was eight years old but her age was later established as 13.
