A school in France has been put under lockdown after an urgent “intruder alert” was triggered.
Terrified students and teachers were confined to classrooms after a man armed with a knife reportedly entered the premises of Pierre Forest High School in Maubeuge on Thursday morning.
Footage on social media shows emergency services rushing to the scene to tackle the reported intruder alert.
According to local media l’Observateur, pupils and parents were alerted to “the intrusion of a person armed with a knife” and the school was put on lockdown at around 10:30 local time this morning.
The publication added that worried parents reportedly gathered outside the school gates as they awaited information.
One terrified mother told La Voix Du Nord that her daughter was hiding under a desk while the situation unfolded. She told the publication: “My daughter is scared. They are all under the tables in the dark.”
She, along with ten other parents, waited outside the school gates desperate to see her child.
Around 11am local time the alert stopped and police on the scene ensured the intrusion alert was lifted.
Students have started to leave the school.
Police have not confirmed the situation.
