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Policeman on Toulon beach (icon image)
Photo: BERTRAND LANGLOIS / AFP
Two men have been arrested in France after another series of mysterious needle attacks.
In Toulon, southern France, a 20-year-old suspect is said to have pricked visitors with a needle or syringe at a concert on the beach.
In Vic-Fezensac, in the south-west, a man is accused of a similar attack on festival-goers.
In Toulon, the attack that led to the arrest happened on Friday evening while a concert on the beach was being televised.
As the investigators announced on Monday, around 20 visitors reported injuries that were probably caused by needles or syringes.
Two women identified a suspect who was arrested on Sunday.
A woman was hospitalized.
The police also had to intervene after the attacks caused panic among visitors.
According to investigators, the arrested person is charged with serious and intentional armed violence.
Nausea, dizziness and a sharp pain
Also over the weekend, several 17- to 18-year-olds reported suspected needle or syringe attacks at a festival in Belfort in eastern France.
A man has been arrested in Vic-Fezensac, south-west France, after seven people reported similar stab wounds after a festival, according to prosecutors.
There is no information about the motives of the two men.
Since the beginning of the year, a total of more than a hundred cases of young people who were allegedly injured with needles or syringes in clubs or at festivals have been reported from different regions of France.
Victims report experiencing sudden nausea, dizziness and a sharp pain during or after going to a club.
They later discovered a red dot on her skin with a ring-shaped bruise around it, which appeared to be a puncture mark.
Authorities are advising victims of the attacks to have a blood test done.
Some of those affected were prescribed preventive treatments against HIV and hepatitis.
So far, however, no cases of poisoning or drug administration have been identified after the attacks.
The incidents spoil the celebration mood in France.
The "sick and perverse" needle attacks caused "hysteria" among young people, said Thierry Fontaine from the hospitality association UMIH in April.
After the corona crisis, this means new revenue shortfalls for France's nightclubs.
ele/AFP
