Rio de Janeiro, March 13 (IANS/EFE): One person died and four people were wounded in a shootout in a Brazilian school, police said.

According to authorities, the shootout in the Senador Teotonio Vilela state school in Brazil's Belo Horizonte metropolitan area on Thursday was drug-linked.

The four wounded people were taken to a nearby emergency care clinic, reports said.

The assistant principal of the school was being treated for a bullet wound in the leg, while two teenagers were also reported to be among the wounded. However, the condition of one of the schoolteachers, who sustained bullet injuries, was not known.

According to reports, gunmen targeted and killed a man who had entered the school to escape the assailants. This is believed to be the fallout of rivalry between drug gang members.

Panic broke out in the school, and students, teachers and staff poured into the corridors to get away.

Police said that they were searching the area for the gunmen.