A teacher was stabbed during a school musical performance in Alblasserdam, Netherlands, on Wednesday night

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A teacher was stabbed and seriously injured at a musical performance by elementary school pupils on Wednesday night, Dutch police said in a statement Thursday. Three suspects were later arrested.

The 53-year-old teacher was stabbed as he tried to intervene in an argument between three men at a cultural center in Alblasserdam, police said, adding that many people witnessed the stabbing and were offered counselling in the immediate aftermath.

Children at elementary schools in the Netherlands traditionally put on shows for their parents in the last week before the summer holidays.

A 44-year-old man was arrested close to the cultural center shortly after the stabbing. Two other men later went to a hospital in nearby Rotterdam. One of them, who had undisclosed injuries, was arrested there. The other man fled but was quickly arrested, police said. The reason for the argument that preceded the stabbing was not immediately clear.

The alleged role of the three men in the stabbing was being investigated. Their identities were not disclosed, in line with Dutch privacy guidelines. Police also impounded two vehicles as part of their investigation.

The incident happened at a musical show put on by final-year students at an elementary school in Alblasserdam, a small town famous for the World Heritage-listed Kinderdijk windmills on the outskirts of the town.