French police arrested 12 suspects after 145 people said they were stabbed with syringes during a music festival in France Saturday, leading to hospitalization of more than a dozen young women.
The mayor of Metz, François Grosdidier, said A call was made to the police around 9:15 p.m. local time on “syringe attacks” during the French music festival Music festivalWhere millions of people have taken up the streets of France.
Grosdier said that the authorities responded to rue du Palais in La Rochelle, several girls and women aged 14 to 20 were tried victims of syringe attacks.
He said the victims had been transported to a local hospital for other care after being treated by emergency stakeholders on the scene. The potentially injected substance, which has not been disclosed, remains under study while the Ministry of the Interior awaits the results of toxicological tests.
“I hope that the investigation, in particular thanks to the examination of his mobile phone, will lead to the identification of other attackers,” added Grosdidier.
The 12 suspects were arrested across France, According to the Interior Ministry. Four people in the city of Angouleme would have been suspected of having targeted around 50 victims.
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Police said there were over 370 people detained during the festival for various accusations.
Thousands of people meet in the Chatelet district and on the banks of the Seine to celebrate the Fête de la Mucque 2025 as groups and DJ play through Paris, France, June 21, 2025.
Luc Auffret / Anadolu via Getty Images
Before the start of the Free Music Festival, the French feminist influencer Abrège Sister warned the online public that there had been calls on social networks so that women are targeted with syringes during the festivities. (Sister did not specify how she came across this information, nor where she saw it online.)
She suggested that an alert code be used “to protect women” and warned others to use the code if they saw someone in danger.
The code offered, for anyone who seemed to be in danger, should be asked if they bought their shirt from the H&M clothing store. If they responded with a different brand, it meant that they were not in danger. She also suggested that if someone was in danger, to add “H&M, right?” To help identify that they needed help.
A similar incident took place in June 2022, when several suspects around France were detained or received preliminary accusations to have allegedly spicy people with a needle in nightclubs or during concerts following a wave of needle attacks that sowed panic in young clubs.
At the time, the French Interior Ministry, the prosecutors, the national anti-drug agency, the public health authorities and the doctors had not determined a reason for the attacks, or if the victims were injected with drugs, viruses or substance.
From January to June 2022, 1,004 people filed official complaints to the French authorities concerning needle bites, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
In cases that led to accusations, medical tests have not revealed any sign of harmful substances, including the so-called rape-datte medication, authorities said. The suspects have denied all the allegations.
At the time, targeted individuals, who were mainly women, had visible injection marks, often of bruises and reported symptoms like feeling groggy. The head of the ministry urged caution by assuming a link between needle bites and GHB.
The investigation into the stab wounds of the music festival is underway.
– With files from the Associated Press
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