Seven dead in southwest China as car drives onto sidewalk

A car drove onto a sidewalk in southwest China on Tuesday, killing seven people and injuring another four, police said, days after another driver deliberately rammed into schoolchildren in the country's northeast.

The driver has been detained and the cause of the incident in Leshan, a city in Sichuan province, is under investigation, police said in a statement.

The injured have been taken to hospital for treatment, the statement said.

According to official news agency Xinhua, the vehicle rushed onto the sidewalk and hit a bus stop in the morning.

The crash came just five days after a driver hit a group of schoolchildren crossing the street in Huludao, a city in northeast Liaoning province.

Five children were killed and another 19 were injured after the driver "chose his victims at random", according to Xinhua, which cited police.

The driver, a 29-year-old unemployed Liaoning resident, was contemplating suicide "due to quarrels" with his spouse before he drove his car into the children, Xinhua reported on Friday.

Deadly road accidents are common in China, where traffic regulations are often flouted or go unenforced.