Five people have been injured, two of them seriously, after a driver “deliberately” mowed down pedestrians and cyclists on a small French island off the Atlantic coast, prosecutors say.

The incident happened around 9am local time (8:00 GMT) on Wednesday at the tourist hot spot of Ile d’Oleron, when the motorist smashed into people multiple times along a main road over the course of 35 minutes, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said from the scene.

The alleged driver was arrested and is being investigated for attempted murder, Nunez said. Local media identified him as a 35-year-old French national living in a nearby fishing community.

Earlier in the day, prosecutor Arnaud Laraize said the suspect shouted “God is the greatest” in Arabic when he was arrested. Nunez told reporters the case is

See Full Page