The children were playing outside and were killed by falling bricks as the crane crashed onto the kindergarten in Zibo city in Shandong province and damaged its roof, Xinhua said.

Two children and the crane operator were injured and taken to a hospital, it said.

A preliminary police investigation attributed the accident to poor safety measures, Xinhua said. Managers of the construction company were detained, it said.

There were about 100 children in the kindergarten at the time of the accident, Xinhua said. The area has now been cordoned off, and police are still investigating, it said. -- AP