SYDNEY, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- One man was dead and another has been hospitalized with serious injuries following a shooting outside a hotel in Sydney's inner west.

Police in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) said in a statement that emergency services were called to reports of a shooting outside a hotel in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Forest Lodge around 6:40 p.m. local time on Sunday night.

Officers arrived to find that two men had been shot multiple times by unknown assailants, who subsequently left the scene in a vehicle.

Ambulance paramedics treated both victims, but one died at the scene. The second man was transported to hospital in a serious condition.

According to local media, witnesses reported hearing between six and 12 gunshots.

NSW Police said that a crime scene has been established and that detectives have commenced an investigation into the attack with assistance from the state homicide squad. ■