A gunman stormed into a Muslim prayer hall in Switzerland last night and opened fire on worshippers.

Three men – aged 30, 35 and 56 – were injured in the attack in Zurich, two of them seriously, according to police.

The suspect, who witnesses said was a man aged about 30 wearing dark clothes, fled in the direction of the city’s central railway station nearby.

It was not immediately clear whether the centre, which is mostly used by Somalian immigrants, was the target of the attack or what the motive might have been.

Heavily-armed police arrived at the scene, pictured, and began searching for the gunman

An area surrounding the Islamic Centre was quickly sealed off after this evening's shooting

Zurich police have not yet released any motive for tonight's shooting in the city

Police recovered a body and a firearm, circled, near the scene of the shooting

Officers erected a tent to cover the body which was found near the Islamic Centre

A police statement said that the gunman had fired several shots at worshippers in the prayer hall at about 5.30pm local time.

It was reported that there were about a dozen people at prayer at the time, and the injured men were then found in the street.

The worshippers were mainly from Somalia and Eritrea, and elsewhere in northern Africa, the ATS news agency reported.

Police sealed off the area and late last night they were scouring the streets for the shooter, using sniffer dogs.

A body was found a few hundred yards from the scene – on then riverbank underneath a white sheet – but it was unclear whether it was related to the incident. The centre is registered as an association enabling Muslims to practise their religion, particularly through instruction on Islamic beliefs and teachings, as well as providing for the preservation of Islamic cultural values and scientific seminars, according to Swiss business website Moneyhouse.

Three men were seriously wounded in the attack inside the Islamic Centre in Zurich

Forensics officers shielded part of the crime scene from onlookers with a white sheet

Swiss police have so far refused to release any information about the victims or the condition

Two-thirds of Switzerland’s 8.3 million residents identify as Christian but its Muslim population has risen to 5 per cent, particularly with the arrival of immigrants from the former Yugoslavia.

In 2009, a nationwide vote backed a constitutional ban on new minarets.

A number of mosques, including one near Zurich and the main mosque in Geneva, have in recent months been accused in media of allowing or encouraging the radicalisation of their worshippers, especially the younger members of their congregations.

Attacks by gunmen are rare in Switzerland but the country was shaken in 2013 by at least two multiple-fatality shootings.

It has a long-standing tradition for men to keep their rifles after completing compulsory military service – which partly explains a high rate of gun ownership in the country.