French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Friday that all four children stabbed in the Annecy attack are now in stable condition. A Syrian suspect remains in custody and it doesn't appear to be terrorism.

French president and wife also meet ‘backpack hero’, as suspect’s detention extended after psychiatric evaluation

Two adults and four children were injured in the assault, which shocked the country and could have been worse if not for the intervention of a 24-year-old man known only as Henri.

In a speech in the Alpine town, Mr Macron said that attacking children was "the most barbaric act". He visited a local hospital, where he met a man who was stabbed by the assailant during the attack. He also met Henri, the so-called "backpack hero" who used his backpack to stop the attacker.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said the health of the preschool children badly wounded in a mass knife attack by a Syrian refugee was "heading in the right direction", as police questioned the attacker.

Two toddlers gravely wounded by a knifeman in the French mountain town of Annecy were in a stable condition on Friday and doctors are optimistic for their recovery, President Emmanuel Macron said.

A man began an indiscriminate attack on children. He stabbed three, moved away, and then returned, pursued by a passer-by with only a rucksack to defend himself