A mother said her daughter’s scream alerted neighbours to the stabbing of a “pregnant” 29-year-old woman in a village in South Wales.

Armed police are searching for a male suspect after the woman was stabbed in Moy Road, Aberfan, South Wales at about 9.10am on Tuesday.

Lynne Terrett, from Merthyr Tydfil, told the PA news agency her daughter, Kira Terrett, was walking her dog near her home in Aberfan when she saw the attack.

She said her daughter looked around after she heard the sound of the woman running towards her.

“(The woman) fell,” she said.

“My daughter screamed and people came out from everywhere.”

She said the knifeman fled.

“If she had not screamed, people would not have gone out,” she said.

She said her daughter was shaken and the victim was pregnant.

Police said the victim was taken to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for treatment.

Schools and a community centre were closed as a precaution.

South Wales Police said: “The suspect left the scene immediately after the incident and inquiries are ongoing to find him. A search of the immediate area is being carried out by armed officers.

“Local schools have activated their lockdown protocols to keep pupils safe whilst the incident is ongoing.

“We continue to request that people avoid the area so that we can effectively deal with this incident.

“The woman has been taken to hospital with injuries which are not believed to be life-threatening at this time.”

A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We sent one emergency ambulance, one air ambulance and one Cymru high acuity response unit to the scene, where advanced critical care support was delivered by the emergency medical retrieval and transfer service.

“We conveyed one patient by road to University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, for further treatment.”

Greenfield School, a special needs school, said all perimeter gates were locked, with pupils kept indoors.

The Trinity Childcare and Family Centre also locked its doors with all staff and children safe inside.

The Wellbeing community centre also said it was shut until further notice.

Susan Prothero, who has lived in Aberfan for 30 years, told PA: “(It’s) a very quiet area.

“I have lived here 30 years and nothing like this has happened here.”