Canadian police say one person has died and at least six were injured in a mass stabbing attack in a First Nations community in the province of Manitoba.

On Thursday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said the suspect in the stabbing had also died.

The incident, described by police as a “mass casualty” event, took place in Hollow Water First Nation, about 200km (124 miles) northeast of the city of Winnipeg.

Eight people were transported by either air or ambulance to local hospitals, Shared Health, the provincial health authority, said in a statement to the BBC.

They arrived with varying injuries, a spokesman said.

Stars air ambulance confirmed that it responded to an emergency on the Hollow Water First Nation on Thursday morning and flew two patients to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

Few details on the incident are available at this time. The RCMP will hold a news conference at 14:00 local time (19:00GMT).

On Thursday morning, Manitoba RCMP warned Hollow Water First Nation residents that they should expect a heavy police presence in the community throughout the day.

They said there was no current risk to public safety.

“Our sincere condolences to everyone within the community of Hollow Water First Nation and to everyone who has been affected by this senseless act of violence,” the RCMP said.

The RCMP major crimes unit will the lead the investigation.

In a letter to residents posted online, the Hollow River chief and council offered their condolences those “affected by this tragedy”.

The Anishinaabe community has a small population of a few hundred people.

The attack happened on the third anniversary of a mass stabbing in James Smith Cree Nation and the nearby village of Weldon, in the province of Saskatchewan, in which 11 people were killed and many injured.

The suspect in that stabbing died shortly after police arrested him following a three-day manhunt. (BBC)

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