Originally Published: 21 DEC 23 10:04 ET

Updated: 21 DEC 23 11:35 ET

By Ivana Kottasova, Jessie Gretener and John Mastrini, CNN

Prague (CNN) — At least 10 people have died and 30 others were injured in a gun attack at a university in Prague, emergency services in the Czech capital say.

They told CNN the attacker had been killed and those wounded had varying severity of injuries.

Evacuation efforts are ongoing as some students locked themselves in classrooms during the shooting, police said in an update on X, formerly known as Twitter.

A picture being shared on social media showed several students hiding on on a ledge high up the building.

The incident - at the philosophy building of Charles University - happened in the center of the capital. The area is popular with tourists and close to major attractions, just across the Vltava River from Prague Castle.

The university was holding classes on Thursday and was due to go on Christmas break on December 23, according to a schedule on the university’s website.

Police are at the scene, with the surrounding area “completely cordoned off.” They earlier said that the attacker had been “eliminated” without giving more details.

Czech President Petr Pavel said he was “shocked” by the shooting in a post on X.

“I would like to express my deep sorrow and sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims of the shooting,” he wrote.

The country’s prime minister, Petr Fiala, said he had cancelled his appointments and was heading back to Prague following the shooting.

“I am in contact with the Minister of the Interior and the Czech Police,” Fiala said, while also urging citizens to follow the advice of emergency services.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed her condolences, saying she was “shocked by the senseless violence of the shooting.”

Gun attacks are rare in the Czech Republic, which has some of the most liberal gun laws in the European Union.

In December 2019, a 42-year-old man killed six people at a hospital waiting room in Ostrava in the east of the country before shooting himself.

And in 2015 a man killed eight people in a shooting at a restaurant in Uhersky Brod before killing himself.

This a breaking news story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire