Gunshots rang out Friday evening at a shopping mall in Munich, the capital of Germany in what police has described as a suspected terror attack.

Police say the perpetrators of the attack are still on the run, and they advise people to avoid public places.

There are reports of at least six people killed, but police have not confirmed that figure.

A big security operation is under way at the Olympia Mall in the North-western Moosach district.

Shop workers have been unable to leave the building and there is no information yet about a possible motive for the attack.

The police quoted eyewitnesses as saying they had seen three attackers carrying guns.

Security forces have been on the alert after a teenage migrant stabbed and injured five people on a train in Bavaria on Monday in an attack that was later claimed by the Islamic State.