Paris: A French soldier shot and wounded a man who was armed with a machete and carrying two bags on his back on Friday as he tried to enter the Paris Louvre museum in what the government said appeared to have been a terrorist attack.
The man allegedly shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and rushed at police and soldiers before being shot near the museum's shopping mall, police said, adding a second person had also been detained after acting suspiciously.
The man has been identified as Abdullah Reda al-Hamamy, a 29-year-old Egyptian born in Dakahlia, a province northeast of Cairo, two security sources said.
He was alive but seriously wounded, the head of Paris police Michel Cadot told reporters at the scene, adding the bags he had been carrying contained no explosives.
"The soldier fired five bullets," Mr Cadot said, describing how the man hurried threateningly towards the soldiers at around 10am local time.
"It was an attack by a person ... who represented a direct threat and whose actions suggested a terrorist context."
One soldier was also slightly wounded in the incident.
Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said during a visit to Bayeux in Normandy: "It appears to be an attempted attack of a terrorist nature."
Vision of the Louvre's courtyard showed an eerie siren ringing out as confused visitors stood watching.
Something is going down at The #Louvre 30 National Police vehicles with guns drawn pic.twitter.com/kpLTCtVdZN
— VoiceB0xx (@voiceb0xx) February 3, 2017
The man who filmed the vision said he saw armed guards sprinting around after the siren began.
The soldier who fired the bullets was from one of the patrolling groups that have become a common sight around the capital since a state of emergency was declared across France in November 2015.
An anti-terrorism inquiry has been opened, the public prosecutor said in a statement.
Interior Minister Bruno le Roux abandoned a trip to the Dordogne region to return to Paris.
More than 230 people have died in France in the past two years at the hands of attackers claiming allegiance to the militant group Islamic State.
The country is less than three months away from a presidential election in which security and fears of terrorism are among the key issues.
Paris had been planning to submit its official bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games on Friday, with a launch show at the Eiffel Tower.
The city had in recent months been gradually recovering from a dip in foreign tourism caused by attacks across the country.
In July last year a man drove into a crowd on the seafront in the southern city of Nice, killing 86. In a separate attack in Normandy, an elderly priest died after terrorists cut his throat during a church attack.
Police cordoned off and evacuated the area around the museum after the incident.
Visitors to the Louvre were told over the loudspeaker of the attempted attack, but witnesses say there was no panic as guards directed people to sit tight together and away from windows.
"(The announcement) came over the loudspeakers that are dotted around," said Paul Lecher, 68, a retired Parisian and frequent Louvre visitor.
"Everything happened calmly. It was just a case of listening ... People quickly understood, even those who didn't understand a word of French, that something unusual was happening."
The Louvre remained closed on Friday afternoon.
It is one of the most famous museums in the world, and home to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, among other priceless works of art and artefacts.
Housed in a former royal palace on the banks of the river Seine, the museum welcomed 7.3 million visitors last year, or over 23,000 people a day based on its six-day working week.
Reuters