Toddler among four killed after car careers into crowd

Eleven of the nearly four dozen people injured when a car careened into a crowd watching a Oklahoma State University homecoming parade at the weekend were children, police said, in addition to a toddler who died of his injuries.

In total, four people were killed when a grey Hyundai Elantra with a suspected drunk driver crashed into the throng in Stillwater, almost 130km northeast of Oklahoma City.

Three adults, identified in a police statement as Nakita Prabhakar, 23, of Edmond, Oklahoma; Bonnie Jean Stone and Marvin Lyle Stone, both aged 65 and from Stillwater, were pronounced dead at the scene.

A two-year-old boy, who was not identified, died later on Saturday.

It was not immediately clear whether Bonnie Jean Stone and Marvin Lyle Stone were related.

Emergency personnel gather after a vehicle crashes into a crowd of spectators during the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade. Pic: AP

Witnesses told of bodies being flung dozens of feet into the air as the car barrelled into the festive throng at the intersection of Main Street and Hall of Fame Avenue to watch an annual parade before an football game.

The driver, identified as 25-year-old Adacia Avery Chambers, was taken into custody on suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol, said Captain Kyle Gibbs of the Stillwater Police. Police are awaiting results of a blood test administered to the suspect after the crash.

Chambers is likely to make her initial appearance in Payne County District Court today, policesaid.

Gibbs said Chambers did not appear to be an OSU student.