French police detained a suspect following an apparent stabbing spree in the country's third-biggest city, Lyon, on Sunday. The attacker allegedly targeted people on the city's subway system.

"Our thoughts are with the three people injured," Deputy Mayor Mohamed Chihi said in an online post.

Victims receiving medical care

The victims were receiving medical treatment.

None of the three victims sustained life-threatening injuries, according to a police source cited by the AFP news agency. The source added that two people were wounded in the abdomen. The three victim was showing injuries on their arm.

Some local sources later suggested four people were wounded in the attack. 

The stabbing took place inside a subway train in the early afternoon, local paper Le Progres reported. A spokesman for Lyon's public transport company said the subway was quite busy at the time of the attack.

Lyon is France's third-biggest city after Paris and Marseille, with the population of around 1.75 million.

French prosecutors probe 'attempted homicide'

French prosecutors are investigating "attempted homicide."

CR news website reported the suspect was a Moroccan national.

Separately, ActuLyon website cited a police source as saying the suspect was 27 years old and had a history of committing minor crimes. The alleged attacker had not made any religious or political declaration, according to the unnamed source.

Le Progres reported that the man had been hospitalized in the past for psychiatric disorders.

dj/wd (Reuters, AFP)