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. Later, the state broadcaster said the five dead, and 16 of the injured, were minors.

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.