China has witnessed a spate of deadly incidents in recent months -- from mass stabbings to car rammings -- a rare development for a country with a proud reputation for public security.
The issue has prompted soul-searching about the state of society, with some despairing about why an increasing number of people seem willing to "take revenge" on random civilians.
Many initial videos of Tuesday's incident already appeared to have been removed from China's tightly controlled social media platforms, echoing other mass casualty events.
State news agency Xinhua reported that "multiple students were injured", while state broadcaster CCTV said the "specific casualties" were still being investigated.
Police in the central city of Changde, home to over five million people, in Hunan province, said the crash took place just before 8:00 am (0000 GMT).
They also said a 39-year-old man surnamed Huang was being held in custody, adding that the injuries sustained by the victims were not life-threatening.
Footage circulating on Chinese social media -- which matched online images of the school -- appeared to show the aftermath of the incident, with dozens of children running in panic away from the site of the crash yelling "help, help".
In one clip, several people including a young child can be seen lying on the ground.
Another showed a bloodied man being hit with sticks by passersby shouting "beat him!" as he lay on the ground next to an SUV.
The crash took place outside Yong'an primary school in Hunan province's Changde.
Asked about the incident, the central government in Beijing declined to give further details.
"The Chinese government has always taken and will continue to take effective measures to ensure people's safety and social stability," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a regular briefing.
- Spate of deadly incidents -
China has this year seen a string of mass casualty incidents, which some analysts have linked to growing anger and desperation at the country's slowing economy and a sense that society is becoming more stratified.
Beijing's top public prosecutor vowed "zero tolerance for crimes that infringe students' rights and interests and endanger campus safety" at a meeting on Tuesday, according to a post on its official WeChat account.
It also pledged to "make every effort to safeguard the safety of campuses and students".
Tuesday's crash was the third seemingly random outbreak of carnage in just over a week.
Last week a man killed 35 people and wounded more than 40 more when he rammed his car into a crowd in the southern city of Zhuhai -- the country's deadliest attack in a decade.
But authorities took almost 24 hours to release that toll, and videos of the attack later appeared to be scrubbed from social media.
Police said the suspect, surnamed Fan, had been "triggered by... dissatisfaction with the division of property following his divorce".
- 'Revenge on society' -
On Saturday, eight people were killed and 17 wounded in a knife attack at a vocational school in the eastern Chinese city of Yixing.
Police said the suspect was a 21-year-old former student who was meant to graduate this year but had failed his exams.
Tuesday's car crash quickly became one of the most discussed social media topics, racking up tens of millions of views on the Weibo platform.
Many users despaired at the occurrence of another grisly incident involving children.
"How can something like this be happening yet again?" asked one user.
"There have been so many people taking their revenge on society recently," said another.
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