PARIS – A prison inmate in northern France has seriously wounded two guards in a knife attack, in what French ministers have described as a “terrorist incident”.
Michaël Chiolo was later detained in a police operation carried out on Tuesday evening.
He and his female partner, who was visiting him, had been barricaded in the family-visiting area of a Normandy high-security prison since the morning.
Both were shot by police, and she is now said to have died of her wounds.
One of the guards suffered a serious abdominal wound, while the second was slashed on the face and back, reports say.
Chiolo shouted “Allahu Akhbar” (God is Greatest) during his attack, reports said.
“It was truly a murder attempt. There was blood everywhere. The family-visiting unit was a battle scene,” a prison staff representative told AFP news agency.
It is thought the ceramic knife Chiolo used might have been smuggled into the prison by his partner, Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet said. (BBC)
