(Bloomberg) -- Two women were killed at Marseille's Saint Charles train station by a man wielding a knife and crying “Allah Akabar.” The man was shot dead by soldiers.
Prosecutors opened a terrorism investigation into the attack, which happened just outside the southern French city's train station at about 1:45 p.m. on Sunday. One woman's throat was cut, and the other was stabbed, Agence France-Presse reported.
France has suffered multiple terrorist incidents, including more than 200 deaths, since the beginning of 2015. President Emmanuel Macron's government is pushing through a strict new law that increases police powers in order to combat terrorism.
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“We have to think how to balance increased police authority and civil liberties -- it's not easy to balance,” said Renaud Muselier, head of the Provence-Alpes Cote d'Azur region, which contains Marseille.
The attacker was known to police for delinquency, though not followed by anti-terrorist teams, according to France Info radio. The train station was evacuated and rail traffic was delayed.
“Anger and sadness for the victims,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe tweeted. “We must not let our guard down.”
--With assistance from Nour Al Ali
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Deen in Paris at markdeen@bloomberg.net, Helene Fouquet in Paris at hfouquet1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Steve Geimann at sgeimann@bloomberg.net, Neil Denslow
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