A man was beheaded and two others were injured after a terrorist attack on a gas factory in the city of Saint-Quentin-Fallavier in central France on Friday.
The attack began in the morning when two suspected terrorists crashed a car into the entrance of factory, causing a huge explosion, officials said.
"According to the initial findings of the inquiry, one or several individuals on board a vehicle drove into the factory that produces industrial gas. An explosion then took place," a source told RFI.
An attacker has been arrested after a decapitated body was found posted on the gate at the entrance to the factory, according to Le Dauphine. An Islamic flag bearing Arabic inscriptions was found near the dead body.
French President Francois Hollande confirmed that the incident at the factory was a "terrorist attack."
"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," Hollande said, Al Jazeera reported. French authorities have launched a terrorism investigation into the attack and ordered tight security across the country.
Hollande also confirmed an attacker has been identified and arrested. "This attack was in a vehicle driven by one person, perhaps accompanied by another. The individual suspected of committing this attack has been arrested and identified," he said, according to The Local France. "There is emotion but emotion cannot be the only response. We need action and dissuasion. We must not cede to fear."
The gas factory belonged to U.S.-based industrial gases technology company Air Products, CNN reported. A spokeswoman for the company confirmed there had been an accident at its French factory and emergency services were at the scene.
