Two children killed after car ploughs into nursery group in Japan

Two female drivers, aged 62 and 52, arrested for alleged negligence, police say

Two children were killed after a car hit a group of nursery children walking on a pedestrian foothpath in Otsu, western Japan, Wednesday 8 May 2019. (AP)

Two toddlers have been killed after a car ploughed into a group of 13 nursery children while they were out walking in western Japan.

The group was hit after a compact car bumped into another car at a junction and veered off towards a pedestrian footpath in the lakeside city of Otsu on Wednesday, Shiga prefectural police said.

A girl and a boy, both two years old, were pronounced dead after they were rushed to hospital, police said.

Conditions of others in the group were not immediately known.

The children, aged two to three, were being escorted by three teachers.

The drivers, a 62-year-old woman in the compact car and a 52-year-old woman in the other vehicle, were arrested on the spot for alleged negligence, police said.

Children often walk to school in groups in Japan.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press