British woman beheaded by maniac in Tenerife supermarket

Eyewitnesses reported seeing the killer run out of the store carrying the victim’s head, before being tackled by security guards.

The suspect, believed to be a homeless Bulgarian man, was captured by security guards after he fled the store in the holiday resort of Los Cristianos - a favourite among British holidaymakers.

A regional government spokeswoman said the killer is understood to have obtained a knife from inside the store to launch his attack.

A woman who works at an estate agent’s on Avenida Juan Carlos near the murder scene said she drove past shortly after the killing.

The woman, who did not want to be named, said: “It is horrific.

“I drove by about 10 minutes later and there were lots of crowds about.

“We have heard about from the local news and from the mayor speaking on radio and television.

“This man had a real wild moment and attacked this woman.

“There doesn’t seem to be any relation between them.”

The woman, who has lived on Tenerife for 30 years, added: “This is a real one-off.

“It was right by one of the big Chinese ‘everything-is-a-pound’ stores.

“We have the occasional robbery and there were a few murders linked to time-share a few years ago. It’s very sporadic.

“But this horrific, senseless violence hasn’t been known here before.”

In a video posted on YouTube, witness Colin Kirby of Tenerifemagazine.com said: “There were people shouting. There was a Hispanic-looking guy walking behind me, looking very scruffy, muttering to himself, carrying what I thought was a joke head by the hair. The blood - it just made me think, Clash of the Titans.”

“I thought: the guy’s a nutter, it’s a joke.

“I’d gone a bit further, the Chinese come running out the other shops, running down towards the big shop where he’d come out.

“The security guards came out, they chased him across the road. By this time he’s empty handed. They got him on the other side of the road, just by the cultural centre. A couple of people tried to get him, they flattened him, got him on the ground.

“The police arrived. The security and the police had to hold people off - they were queueing up - they were trying basically to kick the hell out of the guy.

“Now the place is a madhouse. There’s police, ambulance, security and big areas roped off.

“I spoke to an English couple who were in the shop. They said they couldn’t believe it. They said this guy just walked in, pulled a big knife and started stabbing at her. I still find it hard believe it was a real head - it looked like some prosthetic thing you see in a movie. It’s just bizarre.”

Araceli Perez, 33, who works for Ocean Properties, said the victim was reportedly British but of Chinese ancestry.

Tenerife media were saying the killer had previous convictions for violence, Miss Perez said.

“Guards from the commercial centre jumped on him and the head was rolling on the floor,” she said.

“Many people saw that on the street.

“Then he was caught by the police.

“He must be insane because he was running away with her head in his hands.

“It’s not known if he had his own knife or got it from the shop but it looks like it was bigger than a knife.

“Everybody is talking about it.

“It’s in the centre of the town with lots of shops, businesses and offices around.

“I spoke with a friend who saw it, she was parked in her car when it happened and she saw somebody running.

“It happened at about 10.30am.

“My friend is terrible.

“She is very disturbed and very shocked.”