Gunman On The Run After Killing 4 At Strasbourg Christmas Market

Strasbourg, France, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Dec, 2018 ) :A gunman killed four people and injured around a dozen others at the famed Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg on Tuesday before fleeing the scene, authorities said.

A manhunt was underway after the killer opened fire at around 8pm local time (1900 GMT) on one of the city's busiest streets, sending crowds of evening shoppers fleeing for safety.

Soldiers patrolling the area as part of regular anti-terror operations exchanged fire with the suspect and injured him, but could not stop him escaping, police sources said.

Mayor Roland Ries told AFP that four people had been killed and three or four of the injured were in critical condition. Officials had earlier said two people were killed.

The gunman has been identified and was on a watchlist of suspected extremists, a statement from local security services said.

France's security forces, already on high alert after a series of terror attacks since 2015, are particularly stretched at the moment due to anti-government protests that have swept the country.

"I heard shooting and then there was pandemonium," one witness, who gave his name as Fatih, told AFP. "People were running everywhere." He said he had seen three people injured on the ground only a few metres from the giant Christmas tree in the centre of the eastern city.

Shortly after the shooting, lines of police vehicles and ambulances streamed into the market area, under festive lights declaring the city the "capital of Christmas." "We heard several shots, three perhaps, and we saw people running," one witness told AFP afterwards, asking not to be named.

"One of them fell down, I don't know whether it was because she was tripped up or if she was hit," the witness said.

President Emmanuel Macron arrived for a crisis meeting with cabinet officials in Paris shortly after midnight, while Interior Minister Christophe Castaner was dispatched to Strasbourg.