Czech police said that a man shot himself in the head in a car that police were searching for as they pursued the attacker, who killed six people in a hospital in the eastern city of Ostrava.

"They found the police on the car. There was shooting from the place. We are working to identify the man who shot himself in the head before the police intervened," the police said on Twitter.

The police posted a picture of the suspect on Twitter, showing a red man in a red coat.

"I can confirm that a shooting took place at the Ostrava College Hospital after seven in the morning (06:00 GMT) today," Interior Minister Yan Hamak said in a tweet.

After that, Czech Prime Minister Andrei Babich announced that six people were killed in the shooting.

The newspaper "DNAes" reported on its website that the shooting occurred in the trauma ward of the hospital in Ostrava, located 300 km east of Prague.

"The attacker opened fire on the victims' heads at close range."

Officials said the hospital was evacuated. The police are strengthening security measures across the country.