Six people have been killed after gunmen opened fire in a mosque in Quebec City, Canada, during evening prayers.

A further eight people were wounded in the attack which the mosque's president, Mohamed Yangui, described as "barbaric".

Police say only one of two people arrested earlier - French Canadian university student Alexandre Bissonnette - is now considered a suspect. Reports say the other man detained is being treated as a witness.

A witness said two masked gunmen started shooting inside the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre, where more than 50 men, women and children had gathered.

Image: Khaled El Kacemi of the Islamic Cultural Center of Quebec breaks down during a news conference

They told CBC's French language service Radio-Canada the attackers had a native accent and yelled "Allahu akbar" as they opened fire.


"A bullet passed right over my head," said the witness. "There were even kids. There was even a three-year-old who was with his father."

Image: Police officers are seen near a mosque after a shooting in Quebec City, January 29, 2017. REUTERS/Mathieu Belanger

Those killed were said to be aged between 35 and 70 years old. Some of the wounded are said to be in a critical condition and were taken to different hospitals across the city.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement: "We condemn this terrorist attack on Muslims in a centre of worship and refuge. It is heart-wrenching to see such senseless violence.

"Diversity is our strength and religious tolerance is a value that we, as Canadians, hold dear."

Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume said: "No person should have to pay with their life for their race, their colour, their sexual orientation or their religious beliefs."

Solidarity rallies are expected to be held across Quebec on Monday.

Image: Canadian police officers at the scene

Ali Hamadi, who left the mosque before the shooting, said his friend Abdelkrim Hassen, a married father-of-three, was among the dead.

Zebida Bendjeddou, who also left the building earlier on Sunday evening, said the centre had received threats.

"In June, they'd put a pig's head in front of the mosque. But we thought 'oh, they're isolated events'. We didn't take it seriously," she said.

"But tonight, those isolated events, they take on a different scope."

The shooting comes amid protests worldwide over President Donald Trump's travel ban on refugees and citizens from seven mainly Muslim countries from entering the US.

Police in New York are increasing patrols at mosques in the city following the Quebec shooting.

Incidents of Islamophobia have increased in Quebec in recent years amid a political debate over banning the niqab, or Muslim face covering.

In 2013 police launched an investigation after a mosque in the Saguenay region was splattered with what was believed to be pig blood.