A 29-year-old Frenchman shouted “Allahu
Akbar” as he stabbed a British woman to death and wounded two people at a
backpackers’ hotel in Australia, police said on Wednesday.
The police said that the man was in Australia on a valid tourist visa.
The officials said that he had no known
links to radical groups such as Islamic State, which had urged its
followers to carry out attacks with knives or other readily available
weapons.
British and Australian media identified the dead woman as Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 21, from the English county of Derbyshire.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation said that the deceased was in the country on a working holiday.
A 30-year-old British man was also in
critical condition in hospital after the attack in Queensland State,
South of the city of Townsville.
Police said they were not ruling out any motive.
“Initial inquiries indicate that
comments which may be construed of being of an extremist nature were
made by the alleged offender,” Queensland Police Service Deputy
Commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, told reporters.
He said, “This person appears to have acted alone; he is a visitor to Australia and has no known local connections.
“However, investigations are ongoing.”
NAN
