French police arrest man after knife attack in Paris

French police detained a man on Monday after he attacked three women with knives near Porte de Clichy in Paris, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told reporters.

The man attacked the three women, who were aged 19, 24 and 36, with two kitchen knives, severely wounding two of them, Nunez said.

Video footage verified by Reuters and aired on social platform X showed a man with long black hair, wearing a cream tracksuit and wielding one big knife in each hand.

The video then showed him immobilised on the floor and surrounded by a group of people who had stopped him.

Nunez said the man had been detained by an off-duty police officer. "I pay tribute to him, it was a courageous act," he added.

The motive of the attack remains unknown, Nunez said, adding police could not verify the identity of the attacker, whose declarations were "incoherent" when he was being arrested.

The French national anti-terrorist prosecutor is "in observation" on whether to open an investigation.