UPDATE - Finnish police shoot knife attacker

UPDATES WITH FURTHER DETAILS

By Ilker Girit

ISTANBUL (AA) - Finnish police have said they shot an assailant who stabbed several people in the center of Turku, a city in southwest Finland.

A police tweet on Friday confirmed several people had been injured, and warned members of the public to move away from the city center.

Images from the scene showed at least one body on the ground, covered in a white sheet, in the market area where the stabbings took place.

Other video footage, purporting to be from Turku, showed people running down the city's streets.

A local newspaper, Turun Sanomat, said Finnish police were stepping up security at transport sites, including Helsinki airport.

Finnish premier Juha Sipila said the government was monitoring the situation and would hold a conference later.