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Four pupils injured after stabbing attack at school in Germany

A suspect has been arrested by police after the incident in Wuppertal.

Police and ambulances at the scene of the attack in Wuppertal
Police and ambulances at the scene of the attack in Wuppertal (Roberto Pfeil/AP)

Four students have been injured in a stabbing at a school in the western German city of Wuppertal on Thursday and a suspect, believed to be a student himself, was arrested, authorities said.

The incident took place at Wilhelm Dorpfeld high school in the city of some 350,000 people near Duesseldorf and Cologne.

Police said four students were wounded, as was the suspect, German news agency dpa reported.

Top regional security official Herbert Reul said the attack was apparently carried out with a knife by a 17-year-old student.

Parents pick up their children after the attack
Parents pick up their children after the attack (Martin Meissner/AP)

Mr Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, said at least two of the victims were seriously injured, as was the suspected assailant.

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He told the state legislature’s home affairs committee he had been told the suspect inflicted injuries on himself.

There was no word on a possible motive and the suspect was believed to be a lone assailant.

Other students were evacuated from the building after the attack.