Three people were shot dead and nine wounded on a tram by a gunman in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday.

 

Police said they were hunting for a 37-year-old Turkish man involved in the apparent terrorist attack, said a Reuters report.

 

Dutch authorities raised the terrorism threat to its highest level in Utrecht province, schools were told to shut their doors and paramilitary police increased security at airports and other vital infrastructure and also at mosques.

 

Prime Minister Mark Rutte convened crisis talks, saying he was deeply concerned about the incident, which came three days after a lone gunman killed 50 people in mass shootings at two mosques in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand.

 

“The police asks you to watch out for 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis (born in Turkey) in connection with this morning’s incident,” Dutch police said in a statement.

 

They issued an image of the man and warned the public not to approach him. They gave no further details.

 

The Algemeen Dagblad newspaper, citing a witness, said the gunman had targeted one woman on the tram and then shot other people who had tried to help her.

 

Dutch television showed counter-terrorism units surrounding a house in Utrecht, but there was no official confirmation that the gunman might be inside.

 

Local broadcaster RTV Utrecht quoted a witness as saying he had seen a woman lying on the ground amid some kind of confrontation and several men running away from the scene.