VIDEO: Migrant Stabs 5 in France, Shot Dead by Police

French police shot a man dead on Tuesday after he allegedly stabbed five people in the centre of Marseille.

The suspect, armed with two knives and an iron bar, tried to stab people at random and “without provocation” in a violent rampage, said Nicolas Bessonne, the Marseille public prosecutor.

At least one of the wounded is in critical condition after the man, who arrived legally in France from Tunisia, launched the frenzied attack at 2.45pm local time on Tuesday afternoon.

The suspect burst into a hotel in the 1st arrondissement of Marseille from which he had just been evicted for not paying his rent, Mr Bessonne said.

He went up to the first floor, where his room was located, and stabbed one of his roommates, who was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

The attacker then went to the ground floor, where he stabbed the hotel manager. Once outside, he pursued the manager’s son and stabbed him in the back. Both victims were taken to hospital for emergency treatment, but according to the prosecutor, their lives are not in danger.

The suspect then continued his attack in the city at the nearby Istanbul City snack bar, where he tried to stab the manager “and probably other people” at the scene, Mr Bessonne said. Chased away by customers, he went to Cours Belsunce, where he tried to attack several individuals with a knife and a baton. Two people were wounded “in the face”.

A police patrol that was in the area intervened and attempted to neutralise him.

But the man began reciting verses from the Koran before rushing towards them and ignoring their orders to drop the weapons, according to Le Figaro.

The police officers, equipped with Tasers and their weapons, neutralised him. The attacker died from his injuries at 3.25pm local time.

According to Le Figaro, the assailant was a Tunisian man under judicial supervision and prohibited from carrying weapons.

An interior ministry source told The Telegraph that no motives had yet been ruled out but that “we must remain cautious over whether this is terror-related”.

The judicial police have been called in and an investigation has been opened for attempted murder.

In addition, the police watchdog has been called in following the shots that killed the attacker.

The attack took place near a drug-trafficking hotspot before officers intervened and killed him, said a police source.

Eyewitnesses told local media the man was holding “two large butcher knives and an iron bar”.

Police cordoned off the area and put up a forensic tent in front of a fast-food restaurant.