Man said to wound 5 people with chainsaw in Swiss town

Five people were taken to the hospital, two of them with serious injuries, following an apparent attack Monday in the northern Swiss city of Schaffhausen, police said.

Authorities were searching for a man they believe was involved in the attack.

Police spokeswoman Cindy Beer told SRF television that police were alerted at 10.39 a.m. on Monday (0839 GMT) to the incident. She said, “We can’t say exactly what happened at this point.”

“We just know that a person wounded several people,” Beer said.

The man’s whereabouts were unknown and the old town in Schaffhausen was currently sealed off, Beer said, adding that police wouldn’t say with certainty what implement the man used to wound the others.

Some media reports claimed the man had attacked the victims with a chainsaw.

A rescue helicopter was being used to aid the victims.

Schaffhausen is a city of about 36,000 north of Zurich near the border with Germany.

Police and prosecutors refused to elaborate further as the manhunt was ongoing.