Student killed in French school stabbing attack

One student has been killed and at least three people were injured in a stabbing at a private school in western France, French media say.

The attack took place at Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides school in Nantes on Thursday afternoon, according to reports.

The attacker is said to have been arrested at the scene after being restrained by a teacher.

A significant police presence and emergency services were sent to the school, with army officers also present. It has since been evacuated.

Eye-witness accounts in local media described students running through the site, with some confined to classrooms after an alarm was sounded around lunch time.

Families were informed of the knife attack and told students had been immediately held inside the school.

Authorities helped students gradually leave the site from 15:30 local time (13:30 GMT), as some parents waited nearby.

One father told the Reuters news agency they were "waiting to hold them [our children] in our arms" and "help deal with the stress this will have caused".

The school has around 2,000 students and educates pupils from nursery through to high school, according to its website.

Rue des Épinettes, where the school is located in the east of the city, has been closed off.

France's education minister, interior minister and the regional president are to visit the scene on Thursday afternoon.

Education minister Élisabeth Borne wrote on social media that she would "express my solidarity with the victims".

Christelle Morançais, president of Pays de la Loire region, in which Nantes is situated, said she was "devastated" by the attack.

Meanwhile, the city's mayor, Johanna Rolland, said her heart was "filled with emotion at the atrocious tragedy" that had occurred, adding that she had been at the school since the early afternoon.

Nantes public prosecutor Antoine Leroy is said to have visited the school and will hold a news conference this evening.