NAGOYA: A car driven by an elderly man ran into a group of nearly 40 nursery children on a walk in the town of Higashiura in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, Thursday morning.

Ten children were sent to hospital, with seven of them confirmed to have been injured, according to the Aichi prefectural police department and local fire authorities. The injuries were minor.

The 74-year-old driver of the car fell unconscious after being transported to hospital. The police are investigating details of the accident, including what was the cause and how it happened, with in mind the possibility of the man having a health issue.

The accident occurred near a crossroad around 9:40 a.m. (12:40 a.m. GMT). The car plowed into the group of 38 children aged 4-5 and three nursery teachers accompanying them after turning left at the crossroad with no traffic lights or sidewalks, police sources said. The nursery children and teachers were on their way to a park.

It seems that the car was not traveling very fast at the time of the accident, according to the sources.

JIJI Press