Three people have been killed in a knife attack in the French city of Nice, police say. 

Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said everything pointed to a “terrorist attack at the heart of the Notre-Dame basilica”. Police said one woman had been beheaded in the attack and Mr Estrosi spoke of “islamofascism”. The suspect was detained shortly after the attack.

Je suis sur place avec la @PoliceNat06 et la @pmdenice qui a interpellé l’auteur de l’attaque. Je confirme que tout laisse supposer à un attentat terroriste au sein de la basilique Notre-Dame de #Nice06. pic.twitter.com/VmpDqRwzB1

— Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) October 29, 2020

France’s national anti-terror prosecutors opened a murder inquiry. #Nice06 is trending on Twitter, tweets in outrage of the attack are rising.

🕯️🖤🇫🇷 Une immense pensée aux victimes de ce terrible attentat à Nice
Nous ne céderons Jamais face à ces actes barbare et inhumain
Nous sommes libre et nous resterons libre 🙏🕊️#jesuisNice #attentat #Nice #prayfornice #prayforfrance #NotreDame #Nice06 #triste pic.twitter.com/DcWgkqEqMa

— Yohann En Marche 🚶 (@YohannEnMarche) October 29, 2020

The mayor told reporters that the suspect had “repeated endlessly ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is greatest) when he was being treated at the scene”.

Mr Estrosi said one of those killed was the caretaker at the basilica. The interior minister appealed to people to avoid the area in the centre of the French Riviera city. Gérald Darmanin said he was convening a crisis meeting at the ministry in Paris.

Nice was the target of one of France’s deadliest attacks in recent years, when a 31-year-old Tunisian drove a truck into crowds celebrating Bastille Day on 14 July 2016, killing 86 people.