One beheaded, several hurt in French factory attack

Saint-Quentin-Fallavier (France): At least one suspected Islamist on Friday launched a daylight raid on an industrial gas factory in France and pinned a severed head to the gates, in what President Francois Hollande called a "terrorist" attack.

"The intent was without doubt to cause an explosion. It was a terrorist attack," said Francois Hollande in Brussels, cutting short an EU summit to chair emergency meetings in the French capital.

Hollande said a vehicle driven at high speed by "one person, maybe accompanied by another" smashed into the factory, about 40 kilometres from Lyon.

"At the time I am speaking, there is one dead and two injured," said a grim-faced Hollande, calling for "solidarity" for the victim, who was found with Arabic inscriptions on him.

The bloody discovery of the decapitated head is thought to be the first instance in France of a beheading during an attack -- which has become a trademark of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

And the gruesome killing came nearly six months after the Islamist attacks in and around Paris that left 17 people dead and started with a shooting at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The 35-year-old attacker, identified as Yassin Salhi, had been known to security services for a number of years but did not have a criminal record, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said.

The minister said a local firefighter who rushed to the scene of the attack had overpowered the suspect, praising him for his "courage and ... Cool head".

Salhi and his wife have been taken into custody and an anti-terrorist probe has been launched, Cazeneuve said.