One person was killed and at least five wounded in a stabbing attack Saturday at a library in Vancouver, police said.

A lone suspect was arrested and there was no ongoing threat to the public, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a tweet.

Authorities did not release details on a possible motive for the attack, which took place in the afternoon in and near the library.

"One of the victims is dead," RCMP Sergeant Frank Chang told AFP, adding that authorities were still working to identify the victims.

CTV broadcast a video apparently showing the arrest of the suspect, who seemed to stab himself in the leg before collapsing and being detained by several police officers.

Six people were taken to hospitals, according to an emergency health services spokeswoman, who declined to release details on their conditions.

Witness Sheila Dyson told CTV she saw a man stab a woman. There did not seem to be any connection between them, with the attacker appearing to strike randomly, she said.

Andrew Cocking, who lives 500 meters (about a quarter-mile) from the library, told AFP the attack took place an area that's generally very quiet.

"I saw people getting tended to by paramedics, they were being given first aid next to a vehicle and also next to a restaurant, and pulled away on stretchers," he said. 

"It was quite sad, especially because apparently one of them was a child," he said, adding that his brother was at the library just 30 minutes before the attack.