A Turkish hospital official said an armed police officer receiving psychiatric treatment at an Istanbul hospital barricaded himself into a room and attempted to kill himself.

Earlier reports had said a gunman was holding doctors and other members of staff hostage at Cerrahpasa hospital, but the spokesman, shown in a Dogan news agency video, said all staff had been evacuated from the psychiatry unit.

Police have been dispatched to the scene and negotiators are attempting to persuade the man not to kill himself.

The hospital official who initially spoke to journalists outside the building, reporting a hostage situation and causing panic, has not been identified.