A knife attack at a church in France’s Mediterranean city of Nice left three people dead. The incident took place at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice Oct. 29 at around 9am local time, according to French media.
French anti-terrorism prosecutors are investigating into an attack with a terrorist connection after Thursday’s stabbing.
A statement released by the Holy See Press Office says Pope Francis has been informed of the attack on the Catholic Basilica of Nice and is praying for the victims.
“It is a moment of pain, in a time of confusion. Terrorism and violence can never be accepted. Today’s attack has sown death in a place of love and consolation, like the house of the Lord. The Pope is informed of the situation and is close to the mourning Catholic community. He prays for the victims and their loved ones, so that the violence may cease, so that we may return to look upon ourselves as brothers and sisters and not as enemies, so that the beloved people of France, united, may respond to evil with good,” said Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office, in a statement.
The killings mark the third attack since the opening in September of a terrorism trial in the January 2015 killings at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket.
The assailant was wounded by police and hospitalised after the killings at the Notre Dame Church, less than a kilometer (half-mile) from the site in 2016 where another attacker plowed a truck into a Bastille Day crowd, killing dozens.
Thursday’s attacker was believed to be acting alone and police are not searching for other assailants, said two police officials, who were not authorised to be publicly named.
Interior minister Gérald Darmanin appealed to people to avoid the area in the centre of the French Riviera city. He said he was convening a crisis meeting at the ministry in Paris, as per a report on BBC.
In Nice, images on French media showed the neighborhood locked down and surrounded by police and emergency vehicles. Sounds of explosions could be heard as sappers exploded suspicious objects.
The lower house of parliament suspended a debate on France’s new virus restrictions and held a moment of silence Thursday for the victims. The prime minister rushed from the hall to a crisis center overseeing the aftermath of the Nice attack. French President Emmanuel Macron was headed to Nice later in the day.
With input from media sources.