Berliner Tageblatt - Wave of syringe attacks mar France's street music festival

Millions of people took to the streets across France on Saturday evening for the Fete de la Musique, with authorities reporting "unprecedented crowds" in Paris.

Before the party, posts on Snapchat and other social media had called for targeting women during the festivities.

The interior ministry said 145 victims reported being stabbed with needles across the country, with Paris police reporting 13 cases in the capital.

Officials did not specify if they were cases of so-called needle spiking with date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol or GHB, used by attackers to render victims confused or inconscious and vulnerable to sexual assault.

But at least three people reported feeling unwell, and "Some victims were taken to hospital for toxicological tests," the ministry said.

In Paris, investigations were opened after three people including a 15-year-old girl and an 18-year-old male, reported being stabbed in three different locations in Paris, prosecutors said.

All three suffered from feeling unwell.

Twelve people suspected of being responsible for the stabbings were arrested, the interior ministry said.

They are believed to have targeted around 50 victims, according to a police source.

Apart from those suspects, more than 370 people were detained during the festival on various charges, including nearly 90 people in Paris.

Fourteen participants in the festivities were seriously injured, including a 17-year-old who was hospitalised after being found sitting on the street with stab wounds to the lower abdomen.

Thirteen members of law enforcement were also injured.

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H.Seidel--BTB