Update: Major General Abdullah Khalifa al Merri, Commander in Chief of Dubai Police, said that a mother of one of the students left a cleaning product inside the school, which caused panic among the school administration.
He said that the administration overreacted to the mother’s reaction and dismissed the students without informing Dubai police.
The "woman", who was wearing a medical mask with cleaning gear and powder soap, had gone to the school with the intention of contributing and educating the workers how to clean the school.
“Dubai police acted quickly and checked the material left by the Latino mother in her 30s. We summoned the mother to know her intention as she enter the school using a parent’s permit and left the material,” Maj Gen Al Merri said.
He said that the school’s reaction was unwarranted and the school was back to normal.
“The school overreacted to the incident while there was nothing to worry about.”
Earlier, Gulf News reported from the site, children are leaving GEMS Wellington Academy, Al Khail, with their parents and security guards, and staff are outside the gates directing traffic. There does not seem to be any police presence any more.
Two parents told Gulf News they had received an email from the school to come and pick up their children early on Wednesday afternoon.
Some parents who arrived at the UK curriculum school first had to wait some time before the children were allowed to leave.
Four parents said they were not provided details immediately or officially by the school but added they are expecting the details to be conveyed later.
"I received an email [from] the teacher to come and pick up my child. I usually come after 2pm but today I came after 1pm. No one explained why but we heard what's been in the news today and on social media and WhatsApp groups, that someone had entered the school without permission," said one parent outside the school on Wednesday afternoon.
A number of parents - and one student - said they heard or read varied unofficial accounts, ranging from a woman trespassing, to two men or two individuals entering without permission.
"We were told to stay inside and after a while we were told it's ok to leave," one student said.
Earlier, Police were called in to GEMS Wellington Academy, Al Khail, after an incident on Wednesday morning, sources said.
A GEMS Education spokesperson said in a statement: “We have been made aware of an incident which happened at one of our schools this [Wednesday] morning. Authorities are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident. All students are safe under the provision of school authorities while this matter is investigated further.”
Details of the incident were not immediately available. However, Dubai Police tweeted that they are looking into the incident involving an unidentified individual.
