Seven people were reported dead and at least eight injured in Hamburg after a shooting in a Jehovah’s Witness church at about 9pm on Thursday evening.

Hamburg police said one or more perpetrators were still at large after the attack. Warning of a “major operation”, they sealed off the Alsterdorf area, north of the city centre, and urged locals to stay at home and others to avoid the area.

“Find protection immediately in a building,” was the warning from police to locals in the district between Hamburg city centre and the city airport. “Only telephone in an emergency so that the phone network doesn’t collapse.”

Police said on Twitter there was “no reliable information on the motive for the crime” and they appealed to the public not to share assumptions or to spread rumours.

Several people reported dead in church shooting in Hamburg

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Additional reporting: AP