Several people were taken hostage by two men with knives in a church in the Normandy region of France, with at least one person killed. The assailants have since been "neutralized."
A police source quoted by Reuters news agency said two men armed with knives had taken several people hostage in a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France on Tuesday.
At least one of the hostages was killed.
It was not immediately clear whether the police operation which ended the assault and "neutralized" the attackers resulted in the assailants being killed or arrested.
The source said between four and six people were held in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, in France's northern Normandy region. Several media outlets reported that a priest and two nuns were among the hostages.
France 3, a regional news outlet, reported that the incident began between 9 a.m. and 9.45 a.m. local time (between 0700 and 0745 UTC).
French President Francois Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve were on their way to the scene.
France is on high alert and under a state of emergency following a series of deadly attacks on civilians including the Bastille Day attack which killed 84 people in Nice.
(This article was first published on DW)