TOULOUSE, France, March 23 (Reuters) - At least one person was killed when a man took hostages in a supermarket in the southwestern French town of Trebes on Friday, the mayor told BFM TV. The station reported that the hostage-taker has claimed allegiance to Islamic State.
Mayor Eric Menassi also told LCI TV that the man had entered the shop screaming "Allahu Akbar, (God is greatest) I'll kill you all".
Another person was hurt but their condition was not known, Menassi said. The hostage-taker was now alone with one police officer in the supermarket and all other hostages had been freed, he added.
LCI TV said the second victim was also dead and that 12 people were injured.
"All the information we have as I speak lead us to think that this would be a terrorist act," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said.
More than 240 people have been killed in France in attacks since 2015 by assailants who pledged allegiance to, or were inspired by, Islamic State.
A police source had said earlier that eight people were being held hostage and that the hostage-taker had shot at a police officer.
Reuters pictures showed police in helmets and body armour in positions around the Super-U supermarket.
The Paris prosecutor's office said counter-terrorism prosecutors were investigating the incident but did not comment on the possible Islamic State allegiance.
Earlier, the Interior Ministry had said security forces were carrying out an operation at a supermarket in southern France. Interior Minister Gerard Collomb was on his way.
"There is an ongoing situation ... in the town of Trebes, where shots have been heard and a man entrenched himself in a supermarket," Philippe said. "It's a serious situation."
The UNSA police union also said on Twitter a police operation was underway after an individual had earlier shot at four officers in the Carcassone region, wounding one of them.
