French police arrest three people linked with Cannes knife attack

Prosecutors reportedly have not yet opened a probe into the incident

PARIS:

French police have arrested three persons linked to a man suspected of having attacked police officers in the French Riviera city of Cannes on Monday, French media reported on Tuesday, citing police sources.

Le Parisien newspaper added that France's anti-terrorism prosecutors had not yet opened a probe.

A day earlier, a policeman survived the knife attack, saved from serious injury or worse by his bulletproof vest, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

Also read: Several injured in knife attack on German train

The assailant suffered life-threatening injuries after he was shot by other officers.

The Algerian national held an Italian residency permit, was in France legally and was not on a French watchlist, the minister said.

The attack came as President Emmanuel Macron tried to persuade voters that his government is in control of security and violent crime, six months before elections in which the far right and conservatives pose the biggest threat to his re-election hopes.