A French soldier has shot and seriously injured a man in a shopping area beneath the Louvre Museum after he tried to attack them and shouted "Allahu akbar", officials have said.

Police union official Yves Lefebvre said the man was carrying two backpacks, and had two machetes, and launched an attack when soldiers told the man he could not enter with his bags.

Mr Lefebvre said: "That's when he got the knife out and that's when he tried to stab the soldier."

READ: 'Everything happened calmly...it was just a case of listening'

A soldier opened fire and the man was struck five times, once in the stomach, Paris police chief Michel Cadot said.

The backpacks did not contain any explosives, he said. One of the soldiers was slightly wounded on the scalp.

A spokesman for the military force that patrols key sites in Paris says the four-man patrol of soldiers tried to fight off the assailant before opening fire.

Spokesman Benoit Brulon says the soldier who was slightly injured by the attacker was not the soldier who opened fire.

The French interior ministry said anti-terrorism prosecutors are investigating the attack but that there were still no details about the identity of the attacker. "Allahu akbar" is the Arabic phrase for "God is great".

The museum in the centre of Paris is one of the French capital's biggest tourist attractions.

French police secure the site near the Louvre Pyramid in Paris. Photo: Reuters/Christian HartmannFrench police secure the site near the Louvre Pyramid in Paris. Photo: Reuters/Christian Hartmann

Police have sealed off entrances around where the attack took place and closed the area to vehicles, snarling traffic in a busy part of central Paris.

The situation is mainly calm, with confused tourists being gently shooed away by officers.

Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said that a second person also was arrested but it is unclear whether they were linked to the attack.

Mr Brandet said about 1,000 people were inside the actual museum and were held inside in safe areas.

The French capital has seen a spate of attacks, some claimed by the Islamic State group, since 2015. Friday's incident created panic.

Olivier Majewski was just leaving his scooter in the parking area beneath the Louvre when he saw a crush of people, 30 or 40, running and screaming "there's been a terror attack".

The 53-year-old said he hid for about 15 minutes before making his way upstairs. He said people were clearly scared. "They were panicked," he said.

The attack took place only hours before leaders of Paris's bid for the 2024 Olympics unveil their final candidate files.

French officials have repeatedly dismissed security concerns over the bid despite the wave of attacks that have left more than 200 people dead in the country over the past two years.

The attack will raise more questions before Friday's ceremony near the Eiffel Tower, although bid officials claim the French capital has the experience needed to organise and protect major events if it gets the 2024 Games.

Speaking outside the Louvre, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who will attend the ceremony alongside athletes and other bid leaders, said all big cities in the world are under threat.

She said that "there is not a single one escaping that menace".

Paris, which has not hosted the Olympics since 1924, is competing against Budapest and Los Angeles.

The International Olympic Committee will choose the host city in September.

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