No injuries reported, but incident renews fears of violence against holidaymakers after similar incident last year
A Chinese tour group was attacked and robbed in Paris on Thursday evening by four assailants armed with tear gas, according to China’s embassy in France.
The 40 holidaymakers had just returned from a shopping trip and were milling in the car park of the Kyriad Hotel in the Val-de-Marne suburb of the city at about 8.20pm, according to newspaper Le Parisien.
The four suspects ran into the car park and began spraying tear gas at the tourists, Xinhua cited local media reports as saying. The assailants then made off with nine bags filled with shopping, including many luxury items, though the exact value had not yet been calculated, it said.
Four US students are sprayed with acid in attack at France train station Four US students are sprayed with acid in attack at France train station
“I heard screams, and when I looked out the window, I saw two people assaulting a Chinese guide, and I saw others using tear gas against the tourists,” a hotel worker was quoted as saying in the report by Le Parisien.
“For an hour, it was absolute panic… Many of them [tourists] asked me to hide their bags.”
The report did not say if anyone was hurt in the attack, but said two of the tourists complained of feeling sick. The group returned to China on Friday.
The Chinese embassy said it had contacted French police and urged them to solve the case and bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible.
It also issued a warning to all Chinese planning to visit France, describing the security situation in the country as “grim”.
Chinese tourists are everywhere, but why are foreign visitors shunning China? Chinese tourists are everywhere, but why are foreign visitors shunning China?
“The greater Paris region has reported a series of violent muggings and attacks against Chinese tourists and Chinese-French,” it said.
The Xinhua report said police in Paris had confirmed an investigation was under way.
