Port Manatee Air Products facility increases security after attack in France
PALMETTO -- After an attack on an Air Products facility in France, the company is taking no chances at other locations, including its Port Manatee plant.
"Security has been increased at locations around the world as a precautionary measure," said a statement sent by company spokesman Art George.
Executive director of Port Manatee Carlos Buqueras said he had not spoken with anyone at the Air Products facility, but is confident the company will take the appropriate measures.
"They already have what we consider to be a very secure facility," Buqueras said.
Chairwoman of Port Manatee Carol Whitmore said the port staff will continue to monitor the situation.
At about 10 a.m. in France on Friday, an attacker with suspected radical Islamic ties crashed a car into the front gates at the L'Isle-d'Abeau Air Products facility. The car made contact with gas canisters and an explosion ensued.
Two people were injured in the explosions.
A severed head, said to belong to a L'Isle-d'Abeau-area businessman, was found staked on the front gates of the French facility. The identity of the man who was decapitated before the explosion has not been released.
The two attackers displayed black and white flags with Arabic inscriptions, prompting French authorities to immediately open a terrorism investigation.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said a man who had been flagged in 2006 for suspected ties to extremists was seized by an alert firefighter, one of several people in custody after the attack.
"People who could have participated in this abject crime are in custody," he said.
Cazeneuve said the suspect had been known to intelligence services, who had him under surveillance from 2006-08. The man is from the Lyon region, he said.
Employees were evacuated from the French Air Products facility and the site is secure, according to the statement.
This story was originally published June 27, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Port Manatee Air Products facility increases security after attack in France ."