NANTES, France — A teenage girl has been killed and three students were injured in a stabbing at a private school in western France.

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

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.

Psychological support has been put in place for students and teachers. Rue des Épinettes, where the school is located in the east of the city, has been closed off.

French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the casualties on X later on Thursday, and praised teachers at the scene.

He wrote: "By their intervention, the teachers undoubtedly prevented further tragedies. Their courage commands respect."

After the attack, Prime Minister François Bayrou urged "an intensification" of checks for knives in schools.

National and local politicians visited the school after the attack, where Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told reporters: "This tragedy is not a news item, it is a social phenomenon."

He added that the "psychological profile" of the suspect was not known.

Nantes public prosecutor Antoine Leroy is said to have visited the school and will hold a news conference in the coming days. — BBC