Five people were killed after gunmen opened fire in a Quebec City mosque during evening prayers, the mosque’s president told reporters on Sunday.

Earlier, a witness told Reuters that up to three gunmen fired on about 40 people inside the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Center. Police put up a security perimeter around the mosque.

Canada’s public safety minister, Ralph Goodale, said on Twitter that he was “deeply saddened” by the loss of life and injuries.

“There are many victims … there are deaths,” a Quebec police spokesman told reporters.

Two people have been arrested, police said.

“Why is this happening here? This is barbaric,” said the mosque’s president, Mohamed Yangui.

Yangui, who was not inside the mosque when the shooting occurred, said he got frantic calls from people at evening prayers. He did not know how many were injured, saying they had been taken to different hospitals across Quebec City.

In June 2016, a pig’s head was left on the doorstep of the cultural centre.