Road rage woman driver stabs girl in the throat and slashes another with a knife amid Paris gridlock caused by French transport strikes
- The woman, identified as Fathia R., 41, was arrested near the Champs Elysee
- She also tried to cut a second woman who only suffered minor wounds
- Road rage mother tested positive for heroin and was booked for attempted murder
French transport chaos caused by nationwide strikes turned to macabre horror in Paris when a road rage woman driver stabbed a girl in the throat for walking in the road.
The terrifying attack saw a 41-year-old mother identified as Fathia R. arrested in a street just off the Champs Elysee during traffic gridlock on Monday afternoon.
Her victim – who has not been named – was rushed to hospital where on Tuesday her condition was described as ‘critical’.
A second girl was also slashed by Fathia R, who tested positive for heroin, and suffered minor wounds.
People walk on the Champs Elysees Avenue which is blocked by police, on December 10 in Paris, as a demonstration takes place against the French government’s plan to overhaul the country’s retirement system. Chaos caused by the strikes turned to macabre horror when a raging female driver stabbed a woman in the throat yesterday near the Champs Elysees
People ride bicycles during rush hour as a strike by all unions of the Paris transport network (RATP) and French SNCF workers entered its seventh day in Paris on 11 December. The 41-year-old woman was arrested yesterday for allegedly stabbing the woman for walking in the road during a traffic gridlock
As city prosecutors opened an inquiry for ‘attempted murder’, witnessed described how a routine disagreement between driver and pedestrian turned into a bloodbath at around 3pm.
‘The woman started hooting because she was annoyed that the two young girls were walking in the middle of the road in a traffic jam,’ said an investigating source.
‘She was then insulted by the girls, and this prompted her to get out of the car with a knife in her hand, and then she started attacking the girls.
‘The first girl was stabbed in the throat, and the other was then slashed after trying to protect her.
‘The woman had a passenger with her – probably her daughter – and was furious. She had tried to take a short cut down a one-way street and the girls had been blocking her way.’
French police officers can be seen taking part in demonstrations on December 11 in Paris. A witness said that the girl walking in the road insulted the road rage driver, who then got out of the car to attack her
A screen announces the closure of the Eiffel Tower in Paris today on the 13th straight day of traffic headaches
Fathia R, who comes from La Plaine St Denis, the northern Paris suburb, then got back into her car and tried to accelerate away.
But she was held up in the traffic, and then a crowd of around 20 people surrounded her before police arrived.
‘She was handcuffed and taken to a police station, along with her passenger,’ said the investigating source.
Local Mayor Jeanne d’Hauteserre told the Parisien newspaper: ‘When I got there, I saw a young girl who had obviously lost a lot of blood.
‘According to an initial investigation, it all started from a silly argument between different road users.
‘I don’t know if it was just that, but I know that there is an increasing climate of violence and tension in the streets of the capital.
‘Rudeness on the public road is becoming common between pedestrians, scooters, motorcycles, cyclists and cars.’