A man has gunned down at least five people at a shopping centre in the Finnish city of Espoo near Helsinki. Several people have been injured in the shooting.

Witnesses say the man opened fire at random. The shopping centre has been evacuated and traffic in the area has been brought to a standstill. The authorities have launched a major operation to track down the gunman, who is known to police.

This is the third major shooting incident in Finland in two years. Last year a 22-year-old man killed ten people at a college before turning his weapon on himself. In 2008, an 18-year-old student shot and killed eight people at a school before committing suicide.

The second incident led Finland to tighten its gun laws. The country has a strong hunting tradition and an estimated 1.6 million firearms are in circulation.