The arrested man is not on France’s database of radicalised individuals (FSPRT) but was known to police for a string of minor offences, including damage to property.
At least nine people have been injured after a motorist rammed his vehicle into pedestrians and cyclists on the island of Île d’Oléron, off France’s western coast.
The driver was detained by gendarmes following the incident on Wednesday morning, officials said.
The public prosecutor said that before his arrest, the man attempted to set his car on fire which reportedly contained gas cylinders.
The man is not on France’s database of radicalised individuals (FSPRT), the prosecutor said, but was known to police for a string of minor offences, including property damage.
Two of the injured were in critical condition, said Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez. He said an investigation has been opened, and he was heading to the scene.
Dolus-d’Oléron Mayor Thibault Brechkoff said in a social media post that several deliberate collisions occurred in two towns and injured nine people.
The incidents took place along roadside areas between the two communes, with first calls happening around 9 am, according to local media.