Two dead, three wounded in stabbing in southern Dutch city of Maastricht

At least two people were killed and three injured on Thursday night in two stabbing incidents in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht, authorities said.

Police said in a tweet that one suspect had been detained on suspicion of involvement in the incidents. They released no details on the suspect or the victims but said investigation gave "no reason whatsoever to presume" that terrorism was a motive in the slayings.

The incidents happened in a residential neighbourhood in the north of Maastricht, a city 215 kilometres (133 miles) south of the capital Amsterdam and close to the Netherlands' borders with Belgium and Germany.

Police said a man was stabbed to death during a fight around 9 pm local (2000 GMT) and a suspect fled the scene. Ten minutes later a woman was fatally stabbed and two men injured about a kilometre (about a half mile) away from the first incident. A third wounded person was later found at a local mosque.

Police said the investigations are continuing.