BERLIN — A 17-year-old has been arrested after five students were wounded in an apparent knife attack at a school in the western German city of Wuppertal.

A female teacher said the pupils were attacked with a knife and a pair of scissors, German media reported.

Teenagers at the Wilhelm-Dörpfeld secondary school are said to have barricaded themselves in their classrooms.

The suspect was among those wounded and reports say he is also a student.

Details of the attack are unclear but police said they launched a major operation shortly before 10:00 (09:00 GMT) on Thursday.

The school was then evacuated and roads around it were closed off.

"Students have been injured," police said in a statement on social media, adding later that the school had been cleared and all the students were safe and being looked after.

Police spokesman Stefan Weiand told the Westdeutsche newspaper that the students were "understandably shaken". — BBC