Axeman attacks German school

(Reuters)

Nine pupils were hurt when an axe-wielding man armed with petrol bombs went on the rampage at a school in Germany today.

Nuremberg police said the 19-year-old fellow pupil stormed his high school in the Bavarian town of Ansbach.

The attacker, who was also injured, has been arrested and police evacuated the school.

The Carolinum school was founded in 1528, making it the second-oldest public high school in Bavaria. Today, the school offers curriculum based on the humanities and music for grades five through 13.

The incident was the second attack on a school in Germany this year.

In March 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer shot dead 12 people at his former school in the south-western town of Winnenden. He fled the building and killed three more people before turning the gun on himself.

That was the nation's second-worst school shooting after a 2002 shooting spree in Erfurt that left 17 dead, including the gunman.

After Kretschmer's attack in Winnenden, Germany moved to tighten checks on weapon owners.