Man Beheaded, Several Hurt in 'Islamic Attack' at Factory in France; It Could Be 'Terrorist Attack'

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Friday, June 26, 2015

A French Gendarme blocks the access road to the Saint-Quentin-Fallavier industrial area, near Lyon, France, June 26, 2015. Unknown persons rammed a car into the premises of a U.S. gas company in southeast France on Friday, exploding gas containers in an apparent attack which bore the hallmarks of Islamist militants and left one dead and several wounded, police sources and French media said.

A French Gendarme blocks the access road to the Saint-Quentin-Fallavier industrial area, near Lyon, France, June 26, 2015.

French Gendarmes block the access road to the industrial area of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, outside Lyon, France, June 26, 2015. A decapitated head covered in Arabic writing was found at a a site belonged to Air Products, a U.S.-based industrial gases technology company, in southeast France on Friday, police sources and French media said, after two assailants rammed a car into the premises, exploding gas containers.

French crime scene investigators, Gendarmes and rescue forces are seen at work next to a black plastic sheet outside a gas company site at the industrial area of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Lyon, France, June 26, 2015. A decapitated head covered in Arabic writing was found at a a site belonged to Air Products, a U.S.-based industrial gases technology company, in southeast France on Friday, police sources and French media said, after two assailants rammed a car into the premises, exploding gas containers.

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Nearly six months after Islamist attacks in and around Paris that left 17 people dead in January, France may have suffered another "terrorist attack" Friday morning after a man carrying an Islamist flag beheaded one person and injured several others at a gas factory in Grenoble, eastern France.

According to AFP, the suspected attacker entered the factory and set off small explosive devices. A decapitated body was also reportedly found near the factory and the head, according to local media, was "found hanging on the fence of the Company enclosure."

"According to the initial findings of the enquiry, one or several individuals on board a vehicle drove into the factory. An explosion then took place," said one source to the AFP.

"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 noted that a "flag with Arabic writing on it was found on the scene."

"the head of the victim was found hanging on the fence of the Company enclosure" Oh damn...http://t.co/qfl2xan3MO #frankrijk #attack
— Rick Schipper (@Enoxiz) June 26, 2015

Sources close to the investigation of the incident say a man thought to be the person who carried out the attack, which occurred around 10 a.m. local time, has been arrested.

Eric Coquet, a businessman from Vege France, with a company located near the scene of the attack, told The Local that he only heard the explosion.

"We didn't see anything, but we heard the explosion. It was like a lorry backfiring. People here are not really scared, but they are shocked that something like this could happen just round the corner," he said.

"The police are everywhere; it looks like they are still searching for people. The anti-terror unit is also here and the interior minister is on his way. We haven't been told that we have to stay inside," he added.

Benedicte Paviot, a French commentator, told Sky News: "It seems we may be dealing with a terrorist attack that is not at all confirmed yet by the French authorities."

In Islamic attacks carried out by two brothers that began with a shooting at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and lasted for three days in January, some 17 people were killed.

Twelve of them died at the magazine office while a policewoman and four hostages in a Jewish supermarket were also killed.

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