A British woman has been stabbed and decapitated in Tenerife.
Passers-by pinned down the Bulgarian suspect
[YOUTUBE]G9SOAhdq9Yw[/YOUTUBE]
The 60-year-old woman was reportedly attacked in a supermarket in the town of Los Cristianos on the island.
A Bulgarian man, believed to be homeless, has been detained by Spanish police.
A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has said next of kin have been contacted.
Officials offered their condolences to the family of the victim and are also in contact with local authorities in Tenerife.
Spanish media reported that witnesses saw the man enter a Chinese supermarket at the Valdes Shopping Centre and, without saying a word, attacked the woman with a knife, cutting her head off.
A regional government spokeswoman said the killer is understood to have obtained a knife from inside the store to launch his attack.
Colin Kirby, of tenerifemagazine.com witnessed the event. He told Sky News: "It was all a bit surreal I was heading past the commercial centre and saw a group of people by the entrance and a medical guy going in form the health centre.
"I assumed someone had fainted, walked on, and then I could hear screaming and shouting.
"I glanced behind me and a guy was ambling down the street holding what I assumed to be a joke head, by the hair."
He said security guards gave chase to him, eventually managing to bring him down and restrain him.
"The guy did not seem completely right to me, he was a bit dishevelled, not particularly smart and as he was walking with the head he was muttering.
"It was a bizarre scene."
Manuel Reveron, a local a councillor for citizen security said: "Apparently this gentleman without any motive or any reason, although for this there is no reasoning, entered the shop and then cut this woman's neck and took the head in his hand outside up to the sidewalk.
"Then the security guard was able to throw him on the ground and we covered the macabre (sight)."
Los Cristianos is home to many British ex-pats.
Passers-by pinned down the Bulgarian suspect
[YOUTUBE]G9SOAhdq9Yw[/YOUTUBE]
The 60-year-old woman was reportedly attacked in a supermarket in the town of Los Cristianos on the island.
A Bulgarian man, believed to be homeless, has been detained by Spanish police.
A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has said next of kin have been contacted.
Officials offered their condolences to the family of the victim and are also in contact with local authorities in Tenerife.
Spanish media reported that witnesses saw the man enter a Chinese supermarket at the Valdes Shopping Centre and, without saying a word, attacked the woman with a knife, cutting her head off.
A regional government spokeswoman said the killer is understood to have obtained a knife from inside the store to launch his attack.
Colin Kirby, of tenerifemagazine.com witnessed the event. He told Sky News: "It was all a bit surreal I was heading past the commercial centre and saw a group of people by the entrance and a medical guy going in form the health centre.
"I assumed someone had fainted, walked on, and then I could hear screaming and shouting.
"I glanced behind me and a guy was ambling down the street holding what I assumed to be a joke head, by the hair."
He said security guards gave chase to him, eventually managing to bring him down and restrain him.
"The guy did not seem completely right to me, he was a bit dishevelled, not particularly smart and as he was walking with the head he was muttering.
"It was a bizarre scene."
Manuel Reveron, a local a councillor for citizen security said: "Apparently this gentleman without any motive or any reason, although for this there is no reasoning, entered the shop and then cut this woman's neck and took the head in his hand outside up to the sidewalk.
"Then the security guard was able to throw him on the ground and we covered the macabre (sight)."
Los Cristianos is home to many British ex-pats.
