RIO DE JANEIRO • A car ploughed into a crowd on Rio de Janeiro's tourist-packed Copacabana seaside promenade on Thursday, killing a baby and injuring 17 people, the authorities said, with the driver telling investigators he suffered a seizure.

The black car, with its windshield shattered and the front caved in, came to rest on the beach where some of the injured were frantically being treated.

The Rio de Janeiro health secretariat told Agence France-Presse that a nine-month-old baby girl was killed and 17 people injured in the crash.

The driver "lost control of his vehicle, which went up on the sidewalk of the promenade", and was taken for questioning, police said.

"The driver explained at the police station that he had an epileptic seizure, and anti-epileptic drugs were found in his vehicle," a military police colonel told AFP.

The early-evening incident happened while many people including tourists were enjoying walks along the long promenade during the summer holidays.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE