France suffered a gruesome terrorist attack on Friday when radical Islamist attackers beheaded a gas plant worker and pinned the severed head to the gates of the factory in southeastern France. The head was covered in Arabic writing supporting the ISIS terrorist group and was found next to an ISIS flag.
There was also a reported explosion prior to the beheading, according to local politician Joelle Huillier.
One attacker was taken into police custody and is refusing to cooperate with police.
According to witnesses a group of men carrying Islamic flags forced their way into the factory, beheaded a person and attempted to destroy gas tanks.
French newspaper Le Monde, citing unidentified sources, claimed two people rammed a vehicle through the factory gates and into the building which then caused the explosion.
The Paris prosecutor’s office confirmed that its anti terrorist division had opened an investigation into the attack.
A spokeswoman for the company concerned, Air Products, confirmed there had been “an incident” at its Grenoble location.
Air Products, the U.S. industrial gas company targeted in the attacks, confirmed there had been “an incident” and said emergency services were at the scene. A fire related to the explosion had been extinguished, the company confirmed.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was traveling to the scene, located in the town of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Grenoble.
President Francois Hollande, currently out of the country attending the European leaders meeting in Brussels, Belgium, will issue a statement in the afternoon, the Elysee Palace confirmed.
France has been on high alert since another Islamist terror attack in January targeted the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a Jewish grocery store in Paris.
Stay Connected
