A man injured five people, two seriously, in a stabbing attack in the heart of Amsterdam on Thursday, Dutch police said, before he was overpowered by a bystander then taken into custody.

Police had earlier given a toll of four seriously wounded, but confusion appeared to have resulted from the fact the suspect himself was also hurt.

“Update: in the stabbing incident this afternoon, there were not four but five people wounded. In addition, the suspect himself is also injured,” Amsterdam police said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

Police declined to give any indication as to a motive for the stabbings near the Dam Central Square, saying their investigation was under way.

They said they were “considering the possibility that the suspect may have randomly targeted victims, but the exact motive remains unknown”.

“The suspect was overpowered with the help of a citizen. Due to an injury to his leg, he has been taken to hospital,” authorities said.

A police spokesman had earlier told reporters the suspect was receiving medical care and would be questioned at a later stage.

Authorities had sent a trauma helicopter to the square to attend to the injured. The two seriously injured are currently being treated in hospital, police said.

The police spokesman was unable to give information about the condition of the wounded.

The victims were a 67-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man, both from the United States, a 26-year-old man from Poland, a 73-year-old Belgian woman, and a 19-year-old woman from Amsterdam, authorities said.

An AFP reporter on the scene said the casualties had been evacuated from the location but there was still a heavy police presence and ambulances were also on hand.

Police appeal for images

Early images from local news agency ANP showed a person on a stretcher being loaded into the back of an ambulance.

Public broadcaster NOS showed images of police pushing someone on a stretcher while they were hooked up to an intravenous drip.

According to local media reports, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema left a meeting in the town hall when news of the attack broke.

“We hope to gain clarity soon about the background of this horrific stabbing incident. Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and loved ones,” Halsema said in a statement.

The police urged anyone with images of the incident to upload them as evidence. They also called on people to avoid the area and let them carry out their investigation.

Local media outlet Het Parool cited a witness, Marco Schoenmaeckers, as saying that he saw one of the victims.

“I saw a knife of at least 10 centimetres (nearly four inches) sticking out of the girl’s back, between her shoulders,” Het Parool quoted Schoenmaeckers as saying.