France put on high alert after attack on

chemical plant
Officials say one person was decapitated and two others injured after attack on
chemical depot near Lyon.
26 Jun 2015 17:59 GMT | France, War & Conflict, Europe

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The target of the attack is a chemical factory southeast of Lyon [AFP]

France has been placed on high alert for the next three days after a person was
found decapitated in what officials are calling a "terrorist" incident at a gas factory in
southeastern France.
French President Francois Hollande, speaking in Brussels, said the incident began
shortly before 10am local time on Friday after a car crashed the gate and ran into
gas canisters, causing an explosion. At least two others were injured in the attack.
A security official said a severed head was found posted on the gate at the entrance
to the factory, located in Saint Quentin Fallevier, about 30km southeast of Lyon.
According to legal sources, the man decapitated was the boss of the suspect now in
police custody.
Two flags, one white and one black, both with Arabic inscriptions, were found nearby,
a security official told the AP news agency.

"The attack was of a terrorist nature since a body was discovered, decapitated and
with inscriptions. As I speak, there is one fatality and two injured," said President
Hollande, speaking in Brussels.
A French prosecutor says four people are in custody and that police were still
searching buildings for evidence.
'Salafist links'
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, speaking to reporters near the scene of
the attack, said the suspect had links to the Salafist movement and had previously
been on an intelligence watch list between 2006 and 2008.
Cazeneuve said the suspect was apprehended by a fireman who had responded to
the incident.
Several other people were also arrested at the scene by police, as a precaution, he
said.
A full-scale investigation is now under way.

Police sealed off the entrance to the factory in southeastern France [AFP]
Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan, reporting from Saint Quentin Fallevier, said officials have
not yet confirmed what the motive for the attack was.
Brennan said that the man who was arrested was aged 30 and was known to police.
The target of the attack is a chemical factory which is reportedly linked to a French
company called Air Products that works with Total and specialises in liquid gas.
The company issued a statement following the incident, saying that all of the
employees have been accounted for.
"Our priority at this stage is to take care of our employees, who have been
evacuated from the site," the company said.

The attack came nearly six months after the attacks in and around Paris that killed
17 people in January that started with a shooting at satirical magazine Charlie
Hebdo.