PARIS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A secretary was stabbed to death by a Chinese student in a university in Perpignan, south France, and another three persons were hurt during the incident, local prosecutor said on Wednesday.

    Jean-Pierre Dreno, the prosecutor of Perpignan, said that the student, 26, went into his department of sociology, stabbed a 49-year-old school secretary to death and hurt another three teachers at around 9:30 in the morning. One injured suffered serious wounds.

    The student has been arrested by police and the sociology department was closed at present as the investigation was underway.

    According local media, the Chinese sophomore had once been sent to hospital for abnormal behavior in early November 2009.

    French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement he was shocked by the incident, demanding concerned authorities to find out the cause of the tragedy as soon as possible.

    Higher Education Minister Valerie Pecresse said he will travel to Perpignan immediately.

    Zhu Xiaoyu, the Chinese diplomat for education affairs in France told Xinhua that Chinese embassy also placed highly concern over the incident and they are in close contact with local authorities and the university while seeking for more details.