Three children were wounded in a stabbing on a shopping street in The Hague early Friday evening, Dutch police said, adding that they were seeking a suspect.

National broadcaster NOS said the attack could not immediately be attributed to terrorism.

Police launched a manhunt after the attack, which took place on a busy shopping street near the city's historic centre. The area was cordoned off and dozens of police and ambulances were on the scene.

Several people were stabbed this evening on Grote Marktstraat in The Hague

The knife man attacked several people in the city's main shopping district

A police man walked through the crime scene carrying a bag carrying evidence

All the victims were minors and are receiving treatment in hospital, police said in a statement, adding that their families have been informed. The trio were later released after treatment.

'We are at this moment searching for a suspect, no one has been arrested yet,' police spokeswoman Marije Kuiper told reporters at 10 p.m.

The stabbing happened at the Hudson's Bay department store in Grote Marktstraat, the city's biggest shopping area, which is lined with major retailers and brands.

Two teenage girls came running into the store after being stabbed, broadcaster NOS quoted witnesses as saying.

'I saw two girls screaming and running away. A man fled. He jumped very athletically over benches to get away. He looked like a cheetah.

'People were trying to get away. but that didn't work. I was shocked.'

National broadcaster NOS, quoting 'varied sources,' said: 'At this moment there is no indication of a terrorist motive.'

Kuiper said police did not yet have a description of the suspect, but she said an initial police statement that he was a man in his 40s of North African descent had been wrong.

'At this moment all scenarios are still open,' she said.

Dutch police say three people have been injured in a stabbing incident in The Hague's main shopping street.

Forensic experts gathered evidence from the crime scene where the attack happened

It is understood the youths were attacked near the Hudson's Bay store, pictured

Officers have begun searching for evidence to track down the knife man who fled the scene

The condition of those who have been stabbed is not yet known. Police said they were looking for a man, about 45 to 50 in a grey jogging suit

Police said in a tweet Friday evening that the incident happened in the city's main shopping street.

The incident happened in Grote Marktstraat, which is at the centre of the city's shopping district.

The incident happened in the city's main shopping street, which was busy with people looking for Black Friday deals.

Pictures from the area showed several dozen onlookers kept behind police fencing seeking a glimpse of the area where the stabbing took place.