Four toddlers and two pensioners stabbed in knife attack at French playground

French president Emmanuel Macron said his country was in shock, calling the attack 'an act of absolute cowardice'

Security forces examine the scene of the knife attack in Annecy in the French Alps. Picture; Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP

Four toddlers and two pensioners were stabbed in a knife attack in the tranquil French mountain town of Annecy on Thursday and the government said the suspected assailant was a Syrian refugee.

A video of the attack, taken by a bystander, showed the assailant jump a low wall into a children's playground and repeatedly lunge at a child in a stroller, pushing aside a woman who tries to fend him off.