1 dead in attack, explosion at French gas factory; Arabic banners found near decapitated body

A police officers park outside the plant where an attack took place, Friday, June 26, 2015 in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, southeast of Lyon, France. French authorities say one person has been beheaded in an attack and explosion at a gas factory in the southeastern part of the country. Officials say banners with Arabic writing were found near the body. Authorities have opened a terrorism investigation. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani) (The Associated Press)

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In this screen grab taken from video provided by BFM TV, police stand at the scene outside a factory where a man was allegedly beheaded, in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, France, Friday, June 26, 2015. French authorities have opened an investigation after an attack and explosion at a gas factory that left one person decapitated and several wounded. Banners with Arabic inscriptions were found near the body, an official said. (BFM TV via AP) (The Associated Press)

Police officers walk along the road leading to a plant where an attack took place in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, southeast of Lyon, France, Friday, June 26, 2015. A man with suspected ties to French Islamic radicals rammed a car Friday into an American gas factory in southeastern France, triggering an explosion that injured some people, officials said. The severed head of a local businessman was left hanging at the factory's entrance, along with banners with Arabic inscriptions, they said. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) (The Associated Press)

PARIS – One person was beheaded Friday in an attack and explosion at a gas factory in southeastern France that left multiple people wounded, two officials said. Banners with Arabic writing were found near the body, one of the officials said.

Details of the attack were sketchy but two French officials said it began mid-morning in the Isere region when the men crashed a car into the entrance of the factory and into gas canisters, touching off the explosion. One attacker was arrested, they said.

The decapitated body and the banners were found near the factory entrance, one of the officials said.

Both officials spoke condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.

France went on high alert after an attack in January that left 20 people dead in the Paris region, including the Islamic extremist attackers.