MEPs on Wednesday held a moment of silence for the victims of the shooting in Strasbourg, but it quickly turned political.

Angelo Ciocca, Italian MEP for the League (ENF), sparked the debate by saying: "...mistakes made in France and quite often in Europe mean that you end up with a nation which is facing the challenges of Muslim, Islam extremism and people are losing their life."

Edouard Martin, French MEP for the Socialists (S&D), said those involved in the spat were "throwing themselves on the corpses of the victims (of the Strasbourg attack)".

At least two people were killed and one was left brain dead after a gunman opened fire in central Strasbourg on Tuesday evening, Rémy Heitz, France's anti-terror prosecutor said.

The country's "Vigipirate" security threat level has also been raised.

The European Parliament in Strasbourg, situated a few kilometres from where the attack took place, was put on lockdown during the night.

MEPs took to social media to share that they were safe, with some sharing that they were barricaded in establishments across the city, like Italian MEP Michela Giuffrida who said she was locked inside a pub near the location of the shooting.

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