BEIJING—A car plowed into a crowd of children outside a primary school in northeastern China on Thursday, killing five people and injuring 18, a local government spokesman said.

The driver was taken into custody after the crash around noon in the coastal city of Huludao in Liaoning province, said the spokesman for Jianchang county in the city's suburbs, who declined to give his name as is standard with Chinese bureaucrats.

He described the crash as "a major traffic accident" and said the cause was under investigation.

State broadcaster CCTV reported all five dead and all but two of the injured were children.

Security camera footage showed a line of children crossing the street in front of their school when a car approaches, which then changes lanes and swerves into the crowd of children.

It wasn't clear if the crash was a deliberate attack or whether the driver was swerving to avoid obstacles in front of him.

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 7 or 8 years old. Two or three showed no signs of life," Wang told The Associated Press by telephone.

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Wang said ambulances and police cars rushed to the scene and officers blocked off the area and prevented people from filming. He said that rumours about the driver included that he was drunk, fleeing police or had deliberately targeted the children.

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.

And in September, 11 people were killed and 44 hospitalized after a man drove an SUV deliberately into people at a plaza in the central province of Hunan, before jumping out and attacking victims with a dagger and shovel.

Other deadly attacks have occurred at or just outside schools, including several in 2010 in which nearly 20 children were killed, prompting many schools to beef up security.

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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, police said a man set off an explosion 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, killing eight people.

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The attackers' most common motivations are identified as mental illness or alienation from society and a desire to settle scores.

Read more about:</s>BEIJING — The Latest on a vehicle crash outside a primary school in China (all times local):

Chinese state media report five people have died and 18 were hospitalized with injuries from a car plowing into a crowd outside a primary school in a northeastern city.

State broadcaster CCTV says the vehicle’s driver was taken into custody after the crash Thursday in the coastal city of Huludao in Liaoning province.

The cause was under investigation, although China has seen a number of recent deliberate vehicle attacks. A woman who answered the phone at Huludao police headquarters said they could not reveal anything yet.

Chinese state media report multiple children were injured when a car plowed into them outside a primary school in a northeastern city.

State broadcaster CCTV says the vehicle’s driver was taken into custody after the crash around noon on Thursday in the coastal city of Huludao in Liaoning province.

Several children had been hospitalized and the numbers of injured were still being tabulated. The cause was under investigation, although China has seen a number of recent deliberate vehicle attacks.</s>Five people have been killed and 18 injured as a car struck a crowd of children outside a school in north-eastern China, state media said.

The driver was taken into custody after the collision in the coastal city of Huludao in Liaoning province, state broadcaster CCTV said.

The cause is under investigation, according to the reports.

Security camera footage showed a line of children crossing the street in front of the school when a car approaches, then changes lanes and swerves into a crowd of the children. At least half a dozen students appear to be hit.</s>BEIJING—Five people have died and 18 others are injured after a car plowed into children outside a primary school in northeastern China on Thursday, state media reported. The driver was taken into custody after the crash around noon in the coastal city of Huludao in Liaoning province, state broadcaster CCTV said.

The cause is under investigation, according to the reports. Security camera footage showed a line of children crossing the street in front of their school when a car approaches, then changes lanes and swerves into a crowd of the children. At least half a dozen students appear to have been hit. Government spokesmen reached by phone said they were not authorized to release information about the crash.

While it wasn't clear if the crash was a deliberate attack, China has recently seen a number 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. And in September, 11 people were killed and 44 hospitalized after a man drove an SUV deliberately into people at a plaza in the central province of Hunan, before jumping out and attacking victims with a dagger and shovel. The most common motivations are identified as mental illness, alienation from society or a desire to settle scores. Other deadly attacks have occurred at schools, including several in 2010 in which nearly 20 children were killed, prompting a response from top government officials and leading 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, police said a man set off an explosion 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, killing eight people.</s>At least five children have died and 18 were injured after a car ploughed into a group of pupils outside a school in China today, according to Chinese state media.

The suspect drove the car in the opposite lane at a high speed before crashing into the students who were crossing the road in north-eastern Liaoning Province, according to footage released by state broadcaster CCTV through social media.

The suspect has been apprehended, the report said.

The incident took place at noon outside the Number Two Primary School in Jianchang County, Huludao City.

The suspect drove away from the scene afterwards.

A member of staff from the school told Beijing Youth Daily that the pupils had just finished their classes and were heading home when the car drove into them.

Huludao is a medium size city with around 2.7 million residents on the coast of south-western Liaoning Province.

Speaking to the newspaper, an eyewitness who was driving on the road claimed to have seen loose shoes and blood on the ground after the incident.

Police said they caught the suspect who was driving an Audi A6 at around 2:20pm as he headed towards the countryside.

The suspect has been taken into police custody. Police are investigating the case.</s>Five people have been killed and 18 injured as a car struck a crowd of children outside a school in north-eastern China, state media said.

The driver was taken into custody after the collision in the coastal city of Huludao in Liaoning province, state broadcaster CCTV said.

The cause is under investigation, according to the reports.

Security camera footage showed a line of children crossing the street in front of the school when a car approaches, then changes lanes and swerves into a crowd of the children. At least half a dozen students appear to be hit.

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.

He added that ambulances and police cars rushed to the scene and officers blocked off the area and prevented people from filming. He said rumours about the driver included that he was drunk, fleeing police or deliberately targeted the children.

While it was not clear if the crash was a deliberate attack, China has recently seen a number 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 injured after a man drove a car deliberately into people at a plaza in the central province of Hunan, before jumping out and attacking victims with a dagger and shovel.

The most common motivations are identified as mental illness, alienation from society or a desire to settle scores.

Other deadly attacks have occurred at schools, including several in 2010 in which nearly 20 children were killed, prompting a response from government officials and leading many schools to beef up security.

In June this year, 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, police said a man set off an explosion at the front gate of a nursery in eastern China, which struck as relatives gathered to pick up their children at the end of the day, killing eight people.</s>BEIJING (Reuters) - Police in northeastern China have detained a driver who plowed a car into a group of children outside a primary school, causing at least five deaths and 18 injuries, state media said on Thursday.

China Central Television said police were investigating the cause of the incident, which happened around noon in the city of Huludao in Liaoning province.

Reuters could not immediately reach police or local authorities to seek comment, and it was not immediately clear what prompted the driver’s action.

In graphic footage purporting to show the crash and circulated by media, a group of a few dozen young children cross the road before a dark-coloured sedan swerves into the wrong side of traffic and crashes into them.

Reuters could not independently verify the images, which swiftly went viral on social media.</s>At least five people have been killed and 18 injured, after a car hit a group of students outside a primary school in northeastern China, local media reported.The incident took place in the city of Huludao, Liaoning province at noon on Thursday. The children were crossing the street when the vehicle, identified by media as an Audi, rammed into them.A video released on social media shows chaos as the car crashes into the crowd of children. Many of the students are knocked to the ground and dragged by the car.At least five people have reportedly been killed and 18 injured. An eyewitness told local media that he saw blood on the ground and children's shoes.</s>Chinese state media report 5 dead, 18 injured when car struck crowd of children outside school in northeastern city

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media report 5 dead, 18 injured when car struck crowd of children outside school in northeastern city.</s>The collision happened in Huludao in Liaoning province. Pic: Global Times

Five children have been killed and more than a dozen injured after a car ploughed into a group of primary school kids in northeastern China.

Video posted on social media shows children lying in the street after being hit by the vehicle in Huludao, Liaoning province.

Other children are seen looking on at about noon local time.

A cyclist is filmed being thrown off their bike.

A cook at a nearby noodle restaurant, Wang Mingkuan, said he saw “about a dozen children lying on the ground, some of them bleeding, all about 7 or 8 years old”.

He added that “two or three showed no signs of life”.

A witness quoted by Sina News said he saw “children’s shoes” and “traces of blood” on the ground.

State media said 19 people were injured – all but three of them children. The others were two teachers and someone who was passing at the time.

Footage from a security camera shows the car changing lines prior to the collision, before swerving into the children.

It is unclear whether the driver, who is in custody, drove into the youngsters deliberately, or had been trying to avoid obstacles.
Chinese state media report that five people are killed and 18 others are injured after a car plowed into children outside a primary school in Huludao, Liaoning, China.