At least one dead after car crashes into crowd in northern France

At least one person has been killed and 10 people injured after a car crashed into a group of people near a train station in northern France, police say.

A male suspect was later arrested after authorities launched a major emergency response in Caen, in the Normandy region.

Local prefect David Claviere said seven of those injured were in a critical condition and three more had minor injuries, AFP reported.

The incident took place near a bar, with local media reporting that a fight had broken out there before the incident took place.

“For the moment, we are not dealing with a terrorist motive, but the investigation is only just beginning,” said Bruno Coutanceau, a top security official for Caen.

All of the victims appeared to be men between the ages of 17 and 40, he told AFP.

Claviere said that the car “deliberately drove into pedestrians in the street opposite the train station”.

The suspect, a 26-year-old man born in Russia, was later arrested around 20km (12 miles) away in the port town of Ouistreham.

He was not previously known to intelligence services and police had been aware of him “only for traffic offences”, Claviere said.

Social media videos from the scene appeared to show crowds gathering around police cars and ambulances, where a large area was cordoned off.

A spokesperson for the local administration of Calvados told the BBC that some of those injured were receiving treatment in the emergency ward of a nearby hospital.

Police have opened an investigation into the incident, which will be led by detectives from Caen’s Specialised Crime Division.

Locals have been told to avoid the area around the Caen train station.