Stabbing at a church-run aid center in the Dutch city of Leiden leaves 1 man dead, 2 people wounded

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — One man was killed and two people injured, one seriously, in a stabbing on Friday at a church-run center that houses several aid organizations in the Dutch university city of Leiden, police said.

A man entered the center, a former bakery in the historic heart of the university city, just before 9:30 a.m. and “for as yet unclear reasons stabbed the victims and then fled,” police said in a statement.

A 66-year-old man “was so badly injured that he died at the scene, two others were taken to a hospital,” police said.

A man was later detained “in connection with the incident,” police tweeted. Officers were investigating whether the person was involved in the stabbing.

The chairman of the center, Bert Verweij, told regional broadcaster Omroep West that the three wounded people were a staff member, a volunteer and a worker at one of the organizations that uses the center.

The center houses organizations that offer help to people including homeless people, migrants and asylum-seekers.

Police appealed for assistance in tracking down the suspect, but warned members of the public not to approach him. They described the man as having “dark skin, short hair and beard” and said he also had a head wound.

Further details were not immediately available. Calls to the center went unanswered.