China: Car ploughs into crowd of children outside primary school, killing at least five

At least five people have been killed and several others injured after a car ploughed into a crowd outside primary school in northeastern China.

The driver of the vehicle was taken into custody following the crash in the city of Huludao in Liaoning province on Thursday, state broadcaster CCTV said.

Security camera footage showed a line of children had been crossing the street in front of their school when a car approached, changed lanes and swerved into the group.

Five people were killed in the crash and 18 others taken to hospital, according to local media reports. It is not clear how many of the victims were children.

Wang Mingkuan, a cook at a nearby noodle restaurant, said he was making meals when the crash occurred.

“I ran out and saw about a dozen children lying on the ground, some of them bleeding, all about seven or eight years old. Two or three showed no signs of life,” Mr Wang said.

The chef said ambulances and police cars rushed to the scene and officers blocked off the area and prevented people from filming.

He said that he had already heard several rumours relating the the driver, including that he was drunk, fleeing police or had deliberately targeted the children.

It is currently unknown whether or not the crash was a deliberate attack, although China has recently seen a spate of such incidents.

Last month, a knife-wielding man drove a vehicle into a crowd of pedestrians in the eastern city of Ningbo, killing two people and wounding 16.

In September, 11 people were killed and 44 others injured after a man drove deliberately drove an SUV into people at a plaza in Hunan, before attacking victims with a dagger and shovel.

Other deadly attacks have occurred at schools in the past, including several in 2010 where nearly 20 children were killed.

The spate of fatal incidents prompted action from the Chinese government and led many schools to beef up security.

However, in June, a man used a kitchen knife to attack three boys and a mother near a school in Shanghai, killing two of the children.

Last year, a bomb set off at the front gate of a kindergarten in eastern China, which struck as relatives gathered to pick up their children at the end of the day, killed eight people.

Chinese authorities have previously stated they believe the most common motivations for such attacks are mental illness, alienation from society or a desire to settle scores.

Additional reporting by AP