Man shot dead after two killed in knife attack at Marseilles train station

A knifeman has been shot dead by the French army after he stabbed two people to death at Marseilles train station.

The two victims were said to be women.

Some reports claimed the knifeman shouted ‘Allahu Akbar”, Arabic for ‘God is great’, during the attack.

The attack took place in the early afternoon.

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Soldiers, police and emergency services scrambled to the scene of the attack.

The assailant was then shot by soldiers that guard high-risk areas in France in the wake of previous attacks, and as part of Operation Sentinelle.

Witnesses said people panicked after hearing gun shots.

One person who saw the incident told FranceInfo: ‘I heard two shots, that was what triggered the panic.’

Authorities have asked people to keep clear of the scene at saint-Charles station.

The French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb announced on Twitter that he would travel to Marseille, in the south of France, to liase with anti-terror police chiefs.

A spokesman for his department said that ‘anti-terrorist prosecutors’ had opened an enquiry into the attack.

If it does turn out to be a terrorist incident, it will be the latest in a lengthening line of such attacks in France.