145 people have reported being stabbed with syringe needles during France's Fête De La Musique on Saturday. The nationwide street music festival, which takes place in numerous cities across the country, including Paris, where 13 people said they were stabbed. French officials have arrested 12 people nationwide in connection with the attacks, with four people in the southwestern city of Angouleme suspected of targeting around 50 victims.
“Some victims were taken to the hospital for toxicological tests,” the French ministry said, though they haven't given additional details about the suspects or the substances in the syringes. Police said that there were "unprecedented crowds" at the festival in the country's capital, and while the 145 reported victims is just a tiny fraction of the millions of festival attendees, there's been an alarming uptick in "needle-spiking" cases observed in the UK and Europe in recent years, often involving common date rape drugs like Rohypnol.
On Saturday, the investigation regarding the stabbing opened when three people in Paris, including a 15-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man, reported being stabbed in separate incidents across the city and feeling unwell. Fourteen attendees overall were reportedly seriously injured by the stabbings. Authorities haven't shared details about how many of those victims were female, but CBS News observed that social media posts ahead of the festival called for targeting women.
Meanwhile, aside from the stabbing incidents, more than 370 people were detained during the festival on various charges, with nearly 90 of those people in Paris.
