At least 5 injured in chainsaw attack in Swiss town

Police said the perpetrator has been identified but remains at large after the attack, which prompted them to seal off the centre of the town on the German border.

A shop owner told Swiss newspaper Blick a man with a chainsaw was walking the streets and police later confirmed the report. Police said the attack is not being treated as an act of terrorism.

They described him as being about 6ft 2in, bald and with an unkempt appearance.

Police not name him but issued old photos of the suspect wearing a green T-shirt and black jeans, standing among trees. He is believed to be driving a Volkswagen vehicle with Swiss plates from the canton of Graubuenden.

In a statement, police warned "the suspect is dangerous," but said it was unclear whether he still had the chainsaw. The building where the attack took place is home to a bookshop and insurance and lawyers' offices. It wasn't immediately clear who or what the man's target was. A health insurance company that has an office in the building where the attack took place said two of its employees had to be taken to a hospital, Blick reported.

"We can confirm that a man with a chainsaw came into the agency and seriously wounded two of our employees," said Christina Wettstein, a spokeswoman for insurer CSS.

"They are undergoing operations at the moment and we don't know how they are."

The company doesn't know yet whether the other three wounded people were customers or passers-by, she added.