BERLIN (AFP) - Police were searching at least a dozen schools across Germany after they received threats by email Monday (Oct 17), although officials said they did not believe the messages constituted a serious danger.

Nine schools in the eastern city of Leipzig were emailed threats, a police spokesman said, without giving details of the content of the messages.

Investigators were searching the premises while students and teachers were told not to leave the site, he said.

Schools in the western city of Goettingen as well as the eastern city of Magdeburg also reported receiving similar messages.

The investigation suggests however that the "threats are not serious," the police spokesman said.