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Crime

Car crashes into people at Marseille bus stops

August 21, 2017

A woman has been killed and another person injured after a car crashed into two bus stops in the southern French port city of Marseille. Police told locals to avoid the area around the old port.

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Forensic investigators at the site of a car crash on August 21, 2017 in Marseille
Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Horvat

A police operation was launched in the Mediterranean city after a car crashed into people waiting at two different bus stops on Monday, killing one pedestrian. Another was left seriously injured.

The first crash occurred about 8:15 a.m. (0615 UTC) in the city's northern 13th district, the second about an hour later in the city's 11th district. 

Regional police took to Twitter, warning people to avoid an area around the city's waterfront that is popular with tourists.

"#Marseille, police operation taking place. Avoid the Vieux-Port area, Charles Livon boulevard."

The suspected driver, a 35-year-old man, was arrested in the waterfront area.

"At the moment we have no information on the motives of this individual," a police official told news agency Reuters. French news agency AFP later cited public prosecutor Xavier Tarabeux as saying investigators saw no "element pointing to a terrorist attack."

"We are leaning toward treating it as a mental health case," Tarabeux said.

The incident comes days after dual attacks in Barcelona and the Spanish seaside town of Cambrils, in which vehicles were used as weapons to kill 14 people. Police across Europe are searching for the 22-year-old man they say drove a the van involved in the Barcelona attack.

se/msh (dpa, AFP, Reuters, AP)