Man beheaded in terrorist attack at French factory; suspect arrested, identified

GRENOBLE, France, June 26 (UPI) -- French President Francois Hollande said Friday one person was killed in a terrorist attack at a gas factory.

A man's decapitated head covered in Arabic writing was pinned to the factory gates, Sky News reported. His body was found yards away.

The man's identity has not been released, though the company where the attack took place said all its employees were accounted for. The factory is owned by Air Products & Chemicals, out of Pennsylvania.

"We can confirm that an incident occurred at our facility in L'Isle-d'Abeau, France this morning," the company said in a statement. "Our priority at this stage is to take care of our employees, who have been evacuated from the site and all accounted for," the company said. "Emergency services are on site and have contained the situation. The site is secure. Our crisis and emergency response teams have been activated and are working closely with all relevant authorities. Further information will be released as soon as it becomes available."

Loud explosions were heard, and an Islamic flag was raised near the factory.

"The intent was without doubt to cause an explosion. It was a terrorist attack," Hollande told a press conference in Belgium, where he was attending a European Union summit.

A suspect, identified by French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve as Yassine Salhi. The suspect has no criminal past, but he had been suspected of radicalization in 2006.

Police said the suspect -- a 30-year-old man who identifies himself as a member of the Islamic State -- may have had help. Two people were seen carrying Islamic flags, and a source described seeing multiple people inside a vehicle driving into the factory. They saw the suspect detonate several minor explosives.

French authorities had some indications that some kind of attack was being planned.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said security was being tightened at "sensitive sites."