Several people were killed on Friday in a shooting rampage in a Munich shopping centre and the attacker or attackers are still at large, police said.

The mall near the southern German city's Olympic stadium was surrounded by police after shots were fired.

Germany's Muencher Abendzeitung newspaper reported that up to 15 people were killed in a shooting in a shopping mall in the southern city of Munich.

TV images showed dozens of emergency vehicles outside the mall.

“There is a major police operation under way in the shopping centre,” Munich police said on Twitter, urging people to avoid the area.

Emergency vehicles were seen in the streets outside, as passers-by looked on.

Staff at the German shopping mall is still hiding, an employee told Reuters by telephone. NTV television reported that German police special forces had arrived at the scene.