One man has been killed and three others injured in a knife attack at the Grafing train station, 40km (25 miles) east of Munich.

The knife-wielding man stabbed four commuters shortly before 05:00 (03:00 GMT) on Tuesday morning, with some witnesses reporting that he “Allahu akbar” (“God is great” in Arabic) as he carried out the attack.

Police have identified the man as a 27-year-old German national from the Hessen area of central Germany, and are investigating possible Islamist links and whether the man suffered from drug-related or psychiatric problems.

The mayor of Grafing, Angelika Obermayr, expressed shock at the attack, telling Sueddeutsche Zeitung:

“The idea that people enter the station or deliver newspapers there and then become victims of a maniac is terrible. Hopefully they will recover completely.

“I am most grateful to the police, doctors, paramedics and our firefighters who reacted quickly on the scene.”