Eyewitness describes Vienna shooting attack

An eyewitness to Monday night's deadly shooting in Vienna described Tuesday how he realised it was a terror attack and shouted at everyone around him to drop to the floor.

Hair salon owner Josef Winkler said he was looking out of the window of a bar when the shooting started.

"The crazy thing is that I was coincidentally looking out the window when I saw the muzzle blast from the first shot on. That's why I knew these weren't fireworks but that it was serious," he said.

Taking cover, he made his way out the back door with a small group of people only to see dead and injured people lying around.

The gunman killed four people before being shot dead by police.

Witnesses described dozens of screaming people fleeing the sounds of gunshots in a nightlife district crowded with revelers enjoying the last hours before a coronavirus lockdown.

Others barricaded themselves inside restaurants for hours until they were sure the danger had passed.

Winkler said he only saw one gunman.

The suspect was identified as a 20-year-old Austrian-North Macedonian dual citizen with a previous terror conviction for attempting to join the Islamic State group in Syria.