Eight people have been killed Wednesday evening during a mass shooting in downtown Hanau, a large town on the outskirts of Frankfurt.

Video from the scene shared by German media accounts on Twitter show ambulances and squad cars surrounding crowd of panicked-looking people.

Breaking: BILD is reporting that 8 people are dead following a mass shooting in Hanau, Germany. Reports indicate that the shooting(s) took place in the vicinity of at least one hookah bar. pic.twitter.com/tWG7yiqtTU — PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) February 19, 2020

The shooting reportedly took place at 2 hookah bars in downtown Hanau.

Shooting at a shisha bar in Hanau several dead#Hanau pic.twitter.com/hZ1lY4DlUL — 🦁 de wilde leeuw 🦁🇳🇱 ⚡ (@wilde_westenNL) February 19, 2020

Some reports claimed the incident was a "drive-by shooting" with a gunman "spraying bullets from a car".

The gunman has yet to be apprehended, but police helicopters and vehicles are carrying out an intensive search to bring them into custody.