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Germany axe attack: Assault on train in Wuerzburg

A man armed with an axe injured four people on a train in southern Germany before being shot dead by police, officials say.

Three people were seriously hurt and one suffered minor injuries in the attack in Wuerzburg, police said.

Initial reports said up to 20 people had been injured but it was later revealed that at least 14 had been treated for shock.

The identity of the attacker or the motive is not yet clear.

A Bavarian official quoted by German media said that the attacker was a 17-year-old Afghan refugee, but this was not confirmed.

A police spokesman at the scene said (in German) that the attacker had been shot dead while trying to flee.

The train line between Wurzburg-Heidingsfeld and Ochsenfurt has been closed.

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Police reported to have found an IS flag at his home.

Munich shooting: Police say eight dead as manhunt continues

German police are engaged in a huge anti-terror manhunt in the city of Munich after eight people died in a shopping mall shooting.

Police confirmed eight deaths at the Olympia mall and several wounded.

The attackers are still on the run. Witnesses said they had seen three with guns. Police urged people to avoid public places.

Shop workers are still in the mall, in the north-western Moosach district. Public transport has been suspended.

Police are now describing it as "an acute terror situation". They say the first reports of a shooting in Hanauer Street came in just before 18:00 (16:00 GMT).

The Bavarian capital's central railway station has been evacuated.

People stranded by the emergency and unable to get home are being offered shelter by locals. The initiative was launched with the Twitter hashtag #Offenetür (open door).

Police helicopters are flying over the city and special forces are involved in the massive police deployment.

Bavarian public radio reports that an elite border security unit, GSG9, is heading for Munich with several helicopters.

Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer is holding a crisis meeting with security advisers. The German Interior Minister, Thomas de Maiziere has cut short his holiday.

Meanwhile the neighbouring Czech Republic is boosting its border security.

German security forces have been on alert since a teenage migrant stabbed and injured five people on a train in Bavaria on Monday, in an attack claimed by so-called Islamic State.

The authorities had warned of the danger of further incidents.

More details have begun emerging about events at the shopping centre.

Local resident Dominic Faust described how people entered the mall screaming. "Those people told us that there was a shooting outside and so the security closed the door of this mall and asked everybody to go upstairs to the fifth floor," he said.

A man working at a petrol station in Munich earlier told the BBC: "We see just ambulances and firemen and police but all this area is evacuated, all the streets. Now [there] are no cars just on the side of the streets. All of the streets are blocked. I see that the people are scared. Everybody are running around."

Munich police said they did not know where "the perpetrators" were. "Look after yourselves and avoid public places".

Munich police also urged people to help their operation by avoiding speculation and to desist from using photos or video of their deployments online.