14 May 2011

UK woman beheaded in shop

7:04 am on 14 May 2011

A British woman has been beheaded in a shop on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife.

Spanish media said a Bulgarian vagrant, 28, had been arrested in the town of Los Cristianos.

Witnesses said a man entered a Chinese supermarket in a shopping centre and stabbed, then beheaded the woman, 62. He is said to have dropped the head outside before being tackled.

He appeared to choose his victim at random, without saying a word.

A witness told a Spanish radio station that he saw a man running down the street with a woman's head in his hand.

The BBC reports a security guard wrestled the man to the ground and held him down until the police arrived.

Spanish media report the suspect had a police record.