A teacher has been stabbed to death by a pupil during a lesson at a school in southwest France, government officials have said.

The victim, a 50-year-old Spanish teacher, was stabbed in the chest at Saint Thomas d’Aquin private high school in Saint-Jean-de-Luz near Bordeaux, broadcaster BFM TV reported.

A 16-year-old student has been arrested and police are at the scene.

The teacher suffered cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at around 11.30am, the French news channel added.

Education minister Pap Ndiaye is travelling to the scene of the stabbing. He said: “My thoughts are with the family, colleagues and the pupils.”

Pupils fled in panic after the stabbing, according to the local newspaper Sud Ouest.