Footage released on Thursday showed the moment the assailant, who claims his name is Mohamed Amine but has not been formally identified, pushed a man to the ground in the French capital’s Gare du Nord before repeatedly stabbing him.
The helpless victim suffered several wounds and was left in a critical condition, Daily Mail reported.
His attacker was later shot by an off duty police officer, but not before he managed to plunge his blade into five other people in what authorities believe was an unprovoked mass stabbing.
The harrowing clip of the assault showed how the assailant bundled his victim to the floor before circling around his flailing legs and violently swinging the blade from far above his head.
He attacked six people in all – one woman and the rest male – before he was shot and taken to hospital.
Meanwhile Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said that the assailant was undergoing surgery after being shot twice in the chest and once in the right arm.
Investigators haven’t been able to interrogate him given his condition, she said.
The Libyan, who had no papers, was identified using fingerprint records that showed he entered France in 2020.
He was ordered to leave the country last year following numerous court appearances for crimes including damaging property.
A female witness to the attack, who asked not to be identified, said: ‘I was with my friends at the Gare du Nord this morning, heading off on holiday, and we were just going into the entrance when we heard someone shout.
‘I looked after the first victim who had been wounded. I got the impression that the knifeman was just attacking anyone close to him.
‘As people were being looked after, I heard shots being fired – the forces of law and order were reacting to the attacker.
‘The suspect first targeted a man at the front of the station as shown in the terrifying video.
The assailant then headed towards the platforms and attacked four civilians and a border police officer.
France’s Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, praised the ‘effective and courageous reaction’ of the police, but had no official comment about the way the Libyan had ignored an expulsion order.
‘Without the extremely rapid intervention, there would surely be deaths,’ he said, detailing how the suspect was neutralised within one minute of attacking his first victim.
