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BELGRADE, July 28 (Reuters) - A gunman shot dead at least eight people, apparently at random, in a Serbian village on Friday and police mounted a manhunt to apprehend the killer.

The man, who witnesses said was armed with a rifle, was identified as Nikola Radosavljevic, 39. He had recently returned from Austria to his native village of Jabukovac near the town of Negotin, close to Serbia's eastern border with Romania.

Special police anti-terrorist units were searching the area, but midnight passed with no word of an arrest.

There was no information about the identity of the victims.

"This is a tragedy the like of which we've never seen," Interior Minister Dragan Jocic told Serb media. He said there were eight dead and several wounded, some seriously.

Jocic said the motive for the killings was unclear. "There can't be reason enough to kill eight people. This is not in the realm of the rational," he said.

"Two helicopters are on the scene. We'll see how this tragedy plays out," the minister said.

One police source earlier said the gunman had tried to kill himself the previous day but had been prevented. There was no immediate confirmation.

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