Sky News reports a man in his mid-30s carried out multiple deliberate vehicle ramming attacks on pedestrians and cyclists on Wednesday morning on Île d'Oléron, a French island off the Atlantic coast.

The mayor of Dolus-d'Oléron, Thibault Brechkoff, told local media that nine people were hit by the vehicle, including two in critical condition. 

"We are extremely shocked," Brechkoff said on BFM-TV, adding, "All municipal services are fully mobilized. Two helicopters are on site transporting the gravely injured to Poitiers."

The mayor said the suspect was a local man in his mid-30s, who was arrested shortly after the incident, and who shouted "Allahu Akbar" (Arabic for God is Greatest) when he was detained.

Ile d'Oléron is metropolitan France's second-largest island and a popular holiday destination. 

France's anti-terror authorities have not been called in to investigate the incident.

The incident in France comes less than a week after the mass stabbing attack on a train from Doncaster to London. UK officials insisted there was no indication of a marauding terrorist attack.