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Five people were shot dead at a youth welfare centre in Germany on Monday and the suspected gunman has been arrested, police said, in one of the country’s deadliest mass shootings in years.

Police in protective vests and ambulances were seen in large numbers at the site in the northern city of Stade, west of Hamburg, in the wake of the gun rampage.

“Homicides involving multiple victims occurred at a youth welfare facility” in the city, police said.

“Five people were fatally injured and additional individuals sustained injuries.”