Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that the girl who died was eight years old. She was actually 13 years old. Global News regrets the error.
A thirteen-year-old girl was killed when a car dove into a restaurant in France on Monday.
At least five other people were wounded after the car barrelled through the restaurant terrace in the community of Sept-Sorts, east of Paris, on Monday night.
French officials said that the driver was arrested not long after the incident. They also said he acted intentionally, but there was no known motive behind the incident.
A judicial official said Monday night that the Paris prosecutor’s office, which oversees French terrorism investigations, was not involved in the case because there was no proof of terrorism at this stage.
France’s RTL radio reported that the man told security forces that he wanted to kill himself and that there were weapons in the car.
The girl has not yet been identified. An official with with the national gendarme service told the Associated Press that she and her brother were among the restaurant patrons eating on the outdoor terrace of Pizzeria Cesena when a man in a BMW accelerated toward them.
The girl died immediately, while the boy’s injuries are considered life-threatening, the official said. At least three others were hospitalized in serious condition, and eight more sustained light injuries, said the official, who was not authorized to be publicly named.
Cars have been increasingly used in attacks in France recently. An Algerian man drove his car into a group of French soldiers last week, and a truck attack in the French city of Nice left 86 people dead a little more than a year ago. Several other countries have seen cars used as weapons in recent years.
*with a file from the Associated Press
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