“Shortly after 8:30am, a man injured three people with a bladed weapon at Winterthur train station,” the Zurich canton’s police said in a statement.

They said the suspected perpetrator – a 31-year-old Swiss man – had been arrested and that his “motive is under investigation”.

Images broadcast by several Swiss media outlets and on social media meanwhile showed a man with long brown hair and wearing a black t-shirt and shorts running in front of the station past a group of children, shouting “Allahu Akbar!” (“God is the greatest”).

“The three people who were injured in the attack in Winterthur – Switzerland’s sixth-largest city, located northeast of Zurich city – were aged 28, 43 and 52 and were all Swiss citizens,” police said.

“All three were taken to hospital,” they said.

Zurich cantonal police said it was cooperating with Winterthur municipal police, the Swiss Federal Railways’ transport police, as well as hospital, ambulance and rescue services in the operation.