Three killed in Norway bus hijack

A man wielding a knife hijacked a bus in western Norway and killed three people on board, police said.

The suspect, in his fifties and of foreign origin, has been arrested, police told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

The victims - one woman and two men - included the bus driver. There were no immediate details of other casualties.

The man was overpowered by firefighters who rushed to the scene of what was initially reported as a traffic accident, police said.

The attack took place around 17:30 local time on a remote mountain road near Ardal, about 220km (135 miles) north-west of Oslo.

"For now, I have no information to indicate there was anyone else apart from the three victims on the bus," police officer Joern Lasse Foerde Refsnes said.

A witness said that "The bus was on the side of the road, so we stopped our car and ran over."

"It was impossible to open the doors. Then we saw a dark-skinned person inside the bus. At first, we thought he was trying to get out but then saw he was moving around with a knife, and we realised that the situation was quite different," he said.

The motive for the attack was not immediately clear, but police said there was nothing to suggest the victims were known to the attacker.

The suspect is being treated in hospital for knife wounds, police said.