A knifeman on Thursday beheaded a woman besides killing two others and injuring dozens of worshippers in an attack inside a church in Nice on the Côte d’Azur — the Mediterranean coast of southeastern France.
According to reports, the killings happened at 9 am inside the Notre-Dame basilica in the city centre. There were unconfirmed reports in the French media that at least one of the victims had been beheaded.
Police described the scene as a “vision of horror”.
The attacker was shot and injured by police and was taken to hospital.
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The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, said the attacker had repeated “Allahu Akbar” several times while he was being arrested and handcuffed by police.
He said a woman victim had been decapitated but he had no details of how the two others were killed.
The attack comes less than two weeks after history teacher Samuel Paty, 47, was beheaded outside his high school after showing his class blasphemous caricatures, including one of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during a discussion on free speech.
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Police confirmed that three people had died in the attack.
France’s anti-terrorist prosecutor has been brought in to investigate charges of “killing linked to a terrorist organisation”.
President Emmanuel Macron is heading to Nice.
