Ten people are dead and 15 injured after a van jumped a kerb on a busy intersection in Toronto, Canada, striking people before racing from the scene.

The driver was later found and taken into custody.

A witness, Phil Zullo, told Canadian Press that he saw police arresting a man who had been driving a Ryder rental truck about 1.30pm Monday afternoon (5.30am Tuesday morning NZT) and saw people "strewn all over the road" where the incident occurred.

AARON VINCENT ELKAIM/AP A injured person is put into the back of an ambulance after the incident. Ten people were rushed to hospital, with five of those in critical condition.

"It must have seen about five, six people being resuscitated by bystanders and by ambulance drivers," Zullo said. "It was awful. Brutal."

"He started going down on the sidewalk and crumbling down people one by one," Alex Shaker, who was driving down Yonge Street, told CTV News. "He just destroyed so many people's lives."

Toronto's acting police chief Peter Yuen confirmed the deaths shortly after 8.45am (NZT).

Ten people were rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital, with five of them critically ill, and two in a serious condition, a hospital spokesperson said. Two patients arrived showing no vital signs.

The hospital's emergency department had gone into a precautionary lockdown, CBS reported.

"At this point it's too early to tell what if any motive there was," Toronto police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray said.

AARON VINCENT ELKAIM/AP The rental van which was driven onto a sidewalk crashing into pedestrians in Toronto, killing nine people.

Police shut down the Yonge and Finch street intersection following the incident and Toronto's transit agency said it has suspended service on the subway line running through the area.

Toronto police said it anticipated investigators would be on scene "for several days" with roads remaining closed.

The incident occurred as Cabinet ministers from the major industrial countries were gathered in Canada to discuss a range of international issues in the run-up to the G7 meeting near Quebec City in June.

"Obviously we're just learning of the situation in Toronto. Our hearts go out to anyone affected. We're obviously going to have more to learn and more to say in the coming hours," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

- AP, Washington Post

NATHAN DENETTE/AP Emergency services close Yonge Street in Toronto after the deadly incident.