France has launched a terrorism investigation after police found a decapitated body and a flag with Islamist inscriptions following an apparent attack on a factory belonging to a US gas company in the south-east of the country.
The incident began at about 10am (0800 GMT) when two people apparently drove a car into the factory – believed to belong to US multinational Air Products, in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier – and detonated gas canisters. The attack left one person dead and several wounded, according to police sources and French media.
Local reports said a human head was found at the site, as well as a flag bearing Islamist inscriptions. A police source told Reuters he understood this was the case.
Reuters cited one source as saying a man had been arrested, and that he was previously known to French intelligence sources.
The assailant entered the factory near Lyon and set off several small explosive devices. A decapitated body was found nearby, a separate legal source told Agence France-Presse.
“According to the initial findings of the inquiry, one or several individuals on board a vehicle drove into the factory. An explosion then took place,” the source said.
“The decapitated body of a person was found nearby the factory but we do not yet know whether the body was transported to the place or not,” added the source, who also said a flag with Arabic writing on it was found at the scene.
The incident began at about 10am (0800 GMT) when two people apparently drove a car into the factory – believed to belong to US multinational Air Products, in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier – and detonated gas canisters. The attack left one person dead and several wounded, according to police sources and French media.
Local reports said a human head was found at the site, as well as a flag bearing Islamist inscriptions. A police source told Reuters he understood this was the case.
Reuters cited one source as saying a man had been arrested, and that he was previously known to French intelligence sources.
The assailant entered the factory near Lyon and set off several small explosive devices. A decapitated body was found nearby, a separate legal source told Agence France-Presse.
“According to the initial findings of the inquiry, one or several individuals on board a vehicle drove into the factory. An explosion then took place,” the source said.
“The decapitated body of a person was found nearby the factory but we do not yet know whether the body was transported to the place or not,” added the source, who also said a flag with Arabic writing on it was found at the scene.
