Terror in France: "We are here to stab white people"

A gang that launched a savage knife attack at a French village's winter ball, killing a teenage boy and injuring 17, told guests, 'we are here to stab white people' before the rampage, according to a report.

The 16-year-old high school student, identified only as Thomas, was stabbed at the weekend when a group of outsiders descended on a festive crowd of around 400 people gathered in Crepol, in the southwestern Drome region, for a dance party in the village hall.

He died on his way to hospital. Eight others were injured, two of them seriously.

'We are here to stab white people', one of the attackers, dressed in overalls and trainers, shouted, according to local newspaper Dauphiné.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told parliament that seven people had been arrested and investigators would now ascertain if they were behind 'this odious crime'.

A source close to the case, who asked not to be named, told AFP that the suspected killer was among the seven arrested around the city of Toulouse - some 400 kilometres (250 miles) away - in raids carried out by 50 gendarmes from the elite GIGN unit.

Josette Place, a pensioner and member of the village's events committee, said: 'This wasn't a fight, it was an attack'.

Armed with knives and blocks of concrete, 'they came with the intention to kill', she said of the attackers.

According to prosecutors, around 10 young people tried to enter Crepol village dance hall Saturday night. One stabbed a guard who stood in their way.

Guests at the dance rushed to help and a fight ensued outside the building during which Thomas was fatally stabbed.

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