Eight people have been injured after a man with a knife attacked pedestrians in the Russian city of Surgut.

The victims are being treated by emergency services following the stabbing spree which took place around 11.20am local time.

The attacker has been shot dead by a police patrol, according to reports.

"A man was running along the main streets stabbing people", the TASS news agency reported.

Authorities are now trying to identify the armed man and find out his motive for the attack.
There are claims he may have had mental health issues.

Social media images from the scene showed a police officer kneeling over the suspect who was lying on the ground with his face covered.

Surgut is the largest city and provincial capital of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area, east of the Ural Mountains in central Russia.

The city is around 1,300 miles north of Moscow.