A knife attacker wounded six people in an unprovoked attack in Paris' busy Gare du Nord train station

Six people have been injured with one in a critical condition after a stabbing at Paris's international Gare du Nord station early on Wednesday.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said a man was stopped by two off-duty police officers who were returning home from a shift.

He said the suspected attacker was shot three times and taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Authorities are trying to establish if there was a motive for the attack.

The attack took place at 06:42 (05:42 GMT) - within one minute all six people were injured and the attacker was stopped.

Mr Darmanin thanked for police for their "brave and effective" intervention, which he said saved many lives.