Two churches in southern Spain were attacked by a man with a machete, leaving one person dead and at least one other injured .
The culprit reportedly entered the San Isidro church in Algeciras first, where the priest was attacked and seriously injured.
The suspected attacker then went to a second church, where a verger was fatally stabbed.
The suspect was disarmed and arrested shortly afterwards.
A statement by the Ministry of the Interior said: “Just after 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT) this evening, a man entered the church of San Isidro in Algeciras, where, armed with a machete, he attacked the priest, leaving him seriously wounded.”
“Subsequently, he entered the church of Nuestra Senora de La Palma in which, after causing damage, he attacked the verger.”
The statement also claimed that the alleged victim succeeded in leaving the chapel but was re-attacked and suffered fatal injuries.
“Moments later, (the assailant) was disarmed and arrested and is currently in police custody,” the ministry said.
Investigators are treating the incident as terror-related.
On Twitter, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated: “I send my deepest condolences to the families of the verger who died in this terrible attack.”
The assault was characterized as a “brutal and vicious attack” by the local Muslim community in Algeciras.
Algeciras is a busy ferry port connecting the Iberian Peninsula with Morocco and Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta.
Author-Roberta Appiah
