Emergency services were called to a suburb in Sydney’s west at about 10am after reports that a man had stabbed multiple people before fleeing on foot, New South Wales Police said in a statement. The stabbing took place along a busy shopping strip.

Paramedics treated three people for serious injuries, including a man aged in his thirties or forties who died at the scene, Police Superintendent Simon Glasser said.

The other two victims, a 22-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman, were taken to hospital in critical condition, he added.

Glasser said a man had been arrested a short time later following a police operation in the area.