French soldiers shot and a killed a man on Sunday after he stabbed to death two women at Marseille's main train station, France's interior ministry said, in what police sources called a "likely terrorist act."
Police cordoned off the area and told people to stay away. A witness told Reuters she saw a man take out a knife from his sleeve, stab a young girl and then a second woman. She added that she saw soldiers from France's Sentinelle force who were patrolling in the area arrive on the public square at the Gare St-Charles station.
"After the attack carried out next to Marseille St-Charles, I am immediately going to the site of the attack," French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said on Twitter.
Three police sources said the suspect had shouted "Allahu akbar" (God is great) as he carried out his attack. No further details were immediately available.
France's counter-terrorism prosecutor has opened an investigation into the attack, a judicial source told Reuters.
France has been in a state of emergency following a spate of attacks by Islamist militants over the last two years, including attacks in Paris in November 2015, which killed 130 people.
A gunman drove a heavy truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in the city of Nice last year, killing 86 people and injuring scores more.
