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Three people died, at least one of them slit their throats, and several were injured this Thursday in a knife attack near a church in the French city of Nice (southeast) and its author was arrested, government and police sources indicated.
The French antiterrorist prosecutor’s office opened an investigation after the attack.
The attack occurred around 09:00 (05:00 in Chile) near the Notre-Dam basilicae, in the heart of this city on the French Riviera.
This attack comes less than two weeks after the murder by beheading of a professor in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a small town of 35,000 inhabitants located 50 km from Paris, for having shown cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in class.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced on Twitter a “crisis meeting” in which President Emmanuel Macron will participate before traveling to Nice.
A large number of police and first responders were present near the church, said an AFP correspondent. “The situation is under control,” said an agent.
Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi, who immediately went to the scene of the attack, said France must act to “Eliminate Islamofascism”.
The French deputies, who were debating the new national confinement decided the day before and which will come into force this Thursday at midnight, observed a minute of silence after learning what happened.
Prime Minister Jean Castex, who was present in the National Assembly, left the chamber immediately afterwards.
Nice, a city of just over 500,000 inhabitants, was the target of an attack on July 14, 2016, which left 86 people dead during the festivities of the French National Day.
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