A driver in an SUV plowed into students and pedestrians outside a primary school in southern China on Tuesday, leaving several people injured, state media said, as worries spread over a spate of violent attacks in the country over the past week.

CCTV and other state media reported that the SUV hit people outside a primary school in Changde city in Hunan province as students were coming in for the day.

The incident triggered a warning by Tokyo to Japanese citizens ahead of a soccer World Cup qualifier match between the two nations at 8:00 p.m. in China's western city of Xiamen. Japanese nationals were targeted in public stabbings earlier this year.