A gruesome terror attack in France on Friday took place at a factory owned by American firm Air Products & Chemicals.
French President Francois Hollande said a car was crashed into a building, and a decapitated body and severed head were found with a message. The attack also left two people injured.
Air Products confirmed an incident occurred at its facility in L’Isle-d’Abeau, near Lyon. Spokesperson Nicola Long said there was an explosion, and a fire had been put out.
The site has been evacuated and all employees accounted for.
“The site is secure. Our crisis and emergency response teams have been activated and are working closely with all relevant authorities,” the company said in a statement.
Air Products sells specialty gas and chemical products to a range of companies in the energy, electronics and manufacturing industries.
The Fortune 500 company is headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but has operations in more than 50 countries and employs over 20,000 people.
It has a market capitalization of $31 billion.
Leonard Parker Pool, the son of a boiler maker, founded Air Products in 1940 in Detroit. His big idea was to produce industrial gases at customers’ sites, saving on hefty transportation costs and undercutting the competition.
Business took off during World War II, when the company designed and manufactured mobile oxygen generators for the military to use during high-altitude flights.
Billionaire Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square hedge fund is the largest single shareholder with a stake of 9.6%, according to FactSet data.
