A group of unidentified assailants attacked a church in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Thursday, the Kronen Zeitung newspaper reported.

According to the outlet, two gunmen attacked a Catholic church in the afternoon as gunshots were heard.

The EKO Cobra federal police anti-terrorism unit and the SWAT team of the Vienna Riot Squad had arrived at the scene of the incident, the report said.

Gegen 13.30 überfielen derzeit 2 unbekannte Täter mehrere Ordensbrüder in der Klosterkirche Maria Immaculata in #Strebersdorf. Die Tat streckte sich über mehrere Stunden, gegen 16:17 Uhr entdeckten unsere KollegInnen die gefesselten und teils schwer verletzen Opfer. — POLIZEI WIEN (@LPDWien) 27 декабря 2018 г.

According to preliminary data, from eight to 15 people have been injured in the attack.

🇦🇹 – #BREAKING: 2 Robbers attacked, handcuffed and then robbed people inside the Klosterkirche Maria Immaculata Chruch in Strebersdorf, #Vienna #Austria



At least five people were injured some of them seriously, massive manhunt underway for the robbers.



— Belaaz pic.twitter.com/yZLpfoY4L6 — BELAAZ (@THEBELAAZ) 27 декабря 2018 г.

Commenting on the incident, the Russian Embassy in Austria said that the attack was presumably a robbery, involving the church staff.

"According to the currently available information, all the people injured as a result of the attack by unknown persons are staff of the Catholic church. The preliminary information indicates that it was a robbery. We are checking whether there are Russian citizens among those injured," the embassy's spokesman Bulat Haydarov told Sputnik.

Local police noted that the attackers may still hide on the premises of the church complex.

"We are talking about a large complex of buildings, at the moment it is possible that the criminals and their victims are still on the premises. The crime scene is cordoned off, our colleagues are conducting a search there," Vienna police said in its Twitter blog.