Police search for man pushing over-60s into lake in France

An unidentified man has pushed at least three people aged over-60 into the cold water of a Paris lake in a series of apparently random attacks, say police.

The victims in the three separate incidents on February 1, 2 and 8, were strolling beside Lac du Cretéil, Île-de-France, when they were attacked from behind.

In the latest attack, on Thursday, February 8, a 73-year-old man was punched in the face and pushed into the lake in south-east Paris. His attacker, described by Le Parisienas “a man of around 40” fled the scene.

The victim was pulled out of the lake by a passing fireman.

None of the victims suffered severe injuries from the ordeal, however, the last victim was said to be in a state of hypothermia.

The attacker’s identity is still unknown and none of the victims could describe him clearly.

The Collectif du lac de Créteil, a collective of people who frequent the lake, appealed for anyone with information or any other victims to come forward.

"We know that there are people who were attacked who did not press charges,” announced the collective on Facebook. “But they need to do so. The more witnesses there are, the more likely something will happen.”

“It worries me,” Thierry Hebbrecht (Les Républicains), Ile-de-France regional council member and vice-president of the Créteil leisure park, told Le Parisien.

"This type of behaviour is criminal. Pushing people into the water like that, in the middle of winter, it’s criminal".

The Créteil procurer has launched an inquiry into the matter.

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