French media reports shots being fired as two men sneak into a church and hold a priest, nuns and parishioners hostage.
Two men armed with knives have been shot dead after taking several people hostage in a church in northern France.
According to a Reuters police source, one of the hostages - a priest - was killed and had his throat slit.A total of five people were being held by the knifemen in the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, according to the news agency.
The assailants got in through the back door of the church and took the priest, two nuns and two parishioners hostage during morning mass.
Police at the scene in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray
Le Figaro is reporting several others have been injured during the attack.
It says one of the hostages managed to escape during the hours-long ordeal and raised the alarm.
TV footage at the scene shows one person being stretchered into an awaiting ambulance, surrounded by police cars and fire engines.
A police cordon has been set up and several police officers - some in plain clothes - can be seen talking on mobile phones.
The identities of the attackers and their motive is unknown.
An anti-terror investigator has been appointed to take charge of the investigation.
French President Francois Hollande Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve is on his way to the scene - which comes just days after the Bastille Day massacre in Nice which left 84 people dead.
France has been under a state of emergency since the terror attacks in Paris in November last year.