Videos geolocated by AFP to an intersection in Miyun district in the northeast of the capital showed a grey SUV wedged against a tree as several motionless people were seen in the road.

In one clip a bloodied young person was being given first aid by somebody in white overalls, while in others items of clothing were scattered around.

Chinese authorities said the casualties were taken to hospital, but did not give details on numbers or their condition.

"On June 26, 2025, at around 1 pm, a traffic accident occurred near the intersection of Yucai Road and Dongmen Street in Miyun district," police said in a statement.

No.1 Primary School Miyun Beijing -- where children aged six to 12 go to class -- is located at the traffic junction.

A 35-year-old man surnamed Han "collided" with people "due to an improper operation", the statement said, adding those injured were taken to hospital.

"The accident is under further investigation," the statement said, without giving the number of injured.

An AFP team on Thursday evening saw about 30 onlookers standing behind yellow and black concrete police barriers.

A pick-up truck appeared to be being used to remove the remnants of the tree into which the vehicle had crashed.

Shortly after arriving, the AFP journalists were told by police to leave the scene.

A 19-year-old resident who gave his name as Cheng said he went to the intersection after hearing about the crash from his parents.

"When I went down, the victims had already been taken away and the car was gone," he said, adding he saw lots of people and emergency vehicles in the area at about 4 pm.

- Spate of incidents -

China has seen a string of mass casualty incidents -- from stabbings to car attacks -- challenging its reputation for good public security.

Last year a man who ploughed his car into a crowd of mostly school children in central China was handed a suspended death sentence with a two-year reprieve.

In November 2024 the attacker named as Huang Wen repeatedly rammed his car into a crowd outside a primary school in Hunan province.

When the vehicle malfunctioned and stopped, Huang got out and attacked bystanders with a weapon before being apprehended.

Thirty people, including 18 pupils, sustained minor injuries.

Some analysts have linked the incidents to growing anger and desperation at the country's slowing economy and a sense that society is becoming more stratified.

In November last year, a man killed 35 people and wounded more than 40 when he rammed his car into a crowd in the southern city of Zhuhai, the country's deadliest attack in a decade.

And in the same month, eight people were killed and 17 wounded in a knife attack at a vocational school in the eastern Chinese city of Yixing.