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A knife-wielding man has been arrested at Gare du Nord train station in Paris after waving a knife at police.

Panicked commuters abandoned their luggage and fled in terror as the man was spotted walking around the French transport hub with the weapon.

Footage shows the moment armed police swooped in on the man and bundled him to the ground.

They then scramble to get him into handcuffs as they force him to lay on his front on the ground.

(Image: hannahbayman/Twitter) (Image: @deadboooo/Twitter) (Image: @deadboooo/Twitter)

Two other officers keep their weapons pointed at the man as he's put into handcuffs and hauled back to his feet.

The man reportedly later told officers he had the knife in his hand "because he was afraid for his life," according to French channel BFMTV.

A French police spokesman said the man wasn't "threatening" and "when the gendarmes ordered him to lie down, he immediately did so."

(Image: @deadboooo/Twitter) (Image: @deadboooo/Twitter) (Image: @deadboooo/Twitter)

A spokesman for French train network operator SNCF, said no one had been injured at the station, which welcomes Eurostar from London.

The incident came just days after Karim Cheurfi shot cop Xavier Jugelé, 37, in the head at the Champs-Elysees.

He also inured another officer and managed to blast another after stealing his pistol while in custody. Both victims survived.

(Image: Facebook/@flagasso)

The French-born 39-year-old, who had a long history of violent crime, was found dead with a note backing Islamic State terrorism.

The hardline militant group claimed the attack, which also wounded two other police officers.

In 2001, Cheurfi was jailed for 20 years for shooting two police officers after being caught in a stolen car.

An arrest warrant was issued for a second suspect - yet to be named publicly.

French media reported yesterday morning that the second man being hunted has handed himself into a police station in Antwerp, Belgium.