Rennes missing boy found in southwest
Man arrested after four-year-old Rifki found near Bordeaux, 450km away from where he went missing
A FOUR-year-old boy who went missing on Saturday in a suspected kidnapping in Rennes, Brittany has been found on a TGV train 450km away in the Gironde department of south-west France.
Rifki, who is from the Comoros, off the eastern coast of Africa, was with his mother and uncle on the Place de la Mairie in Rennes when he disappeared at about 14.00 on Saturday afternoon.
They were accompanied at the time by a person who has been providing the family with accommodation in the city, and another man named Ahmed - the boy's suspected kidnapper.
Ahmed was arrested by police at Libourne rail station, near Bordeaux, on Sunday afternoon and Rifki will be examined by doctors before he is reunited with his family in Brittany.
About a dozen members of the Comoran community in Rennes gathered outside the city's police station this afternoon to express their joy that the boy had been found safe and sound.
#AlerteEnlèvement diffusée ce matin par le Min. de l'Intérieur. Rifki enlevé hier à #Rennes Place de la Mairie. pic.twitter.com/eY4Iz7ovRx— Kévin Morand (@KvinMrd) August 16, 2015
Rennes public prosecutor Thierry Pocquet du Haut Jussé told reporters earlier on Sunday: "Ahmed - who is not related to the child - was staying at the same address as them. The mother and uncle had only known him a few days.
"The mother says Ahmed went away to buy drinks and took Rifki with him. When they failed to return, they spent all afternoon searching in vain before coming to the police station."
